So Close, Yet So Far
by vlrny
Summary: Harry Potter is in his seventh year at Hogwarts, having returned to finish his education after the war. Draco Malfoy watches him from afar, and grudgingly agrees to help Harry when he finds himself enamored with Pansy Parkinson. But little do both of them know, the sparks flying between the two boys eventually will be far hotter than what Harry first bargained for...
1. A Fleeting Thought

Hi, it's my first time writing a Draco x Harry fanfiction. I hope that the story is intriguing enough for you to stay and continue reading!

Notes: Post Wizarding War. Sirius, Snape, Dumbledore, Hedwig, Lupin, Tonks, Fred, Lavender etc. are all still alive and well. The only people who died: Bellatrix, Pettigrew and Voldemort.

I just couldn't bear the thought of anyone good dying. :(

* * *

"Harry James Potter! Where have you been?" a shrilly Hermione asked, as Harry walked into the Great Hall hurriedly, his hair still unkempt and standing in funny places from tossing and turning in his sleep. "I overslept, 'Mione. Sorry," he said, grimacing as he glanced at the time, then grabbed a treacle tart and started wolfing it down. "Class starts in five minutes and it's the first day of school! I can't be late for class!" she said, flustering over her stack of books that seemed likely to fall over at any given time.

"Chill, mate. She's panicking today because her classes start a period earlier than ours," Ron chortled as he happily ate another slice of bacon. Harry rolled his eyes affectionately and slowed down his eating pace. "Laugh all you want, Ron, but seventh year won't be as easy as you think it is!" Hermione snapped and left with her tower of textbooks.

"She's been in a bad mood all morning – you'd think she's going to fail any of those subjects." Ron rolled his eyes with a mouth full of eggs. Harry just chuckled, knowing that it was impossible for Hermione to fail any subject. As he started on another treacle tart, a flash of silver caught his eye. Across the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables sat Draco Malfoy and his friends. They were all laughing at something, Draco being the loudest – but someone else at that table kept his attention there.

Pansy Parkinson had grown her hair out over the year, leaving it in curls that framed her face very nicely. She was radiating happiness and looked vivacious – the direct opposite of Cho, Harry thought. This caught him by surprise, as he had never compared Cho with anyone before – not that he had any time to, before the war that ravaged Hogwarts. But now...

He thought back to the last time he had seen her. It was in the same Great Hall, where she had tried to convince the rest of the school to give him up to Voldemort. Honestly Harry didn't blame Pansy for suggesting that. He understood her fear, and why she would've given him up to the Dark Lord because if Harry were in her shoes, he'd probably have wanted to do the same.

"Hey mate, what you looking at?" Ron snapped his fingers in front of Harry's face, distracting him from his thoughts. "I dunno Ron… Pansy looks quite pretty this year," Harry said thoughtfully as he had some dandelion juice. Ron frowned and looked across the table at Pansy, before turning back to Harry with a wide-eyed look on his face. "Blimey, you're right. She's gotten prettier, not that I would admit it to anyone else since she's a Slytherin…" Ron mumbled the last part to himself.

Harry sighed and shook those ridiculous thoughts off before setting his goblet down and grabbing his bag. "Let's go for Potions, Ron. Wouldn't do us well to be late for Snape's class," he said, and headed towards the dungeons with Ron in tow.

* * *

"Hey Draco, Potter's looking this way," Gregory Goyle said, noticing how the Golden Boy had his eyes directed at the Slytherin table. "Good job, Goyle. I didn't know that you could even be that observant," Draco drawled, polishing his nails against his robe. Goyle puffed up like a proud peacock, not noticing Draco's sarcasm. Pansy laughed, along with Blaise and Crabbe, who laughed only because everyone else was.

Draco watched as Potter looked towards them without hatred or malice. Draco was surprised at the mellow look on Potter's face, and as he looked at where he was focusing, he realized that Potter was staring at Pansy. Also without the burning anger that used to rest in his eyes when he looked at any of the Slytherins. "Hey Pansy, I think Potter's looking at you, not us," Draco said sullenly, feeling unhappy all of a sudden.

"Aw, is my little baby jealous? Don't worry, Draco, the Golden Boy's all yours. Stop being such a Hufflepuff!" Pansy couldn't stop laughing at his pained expression. Blaise rolled his eyes at Draco, knowing that Potter had been the object of his "affections" since the first year. Only recently after the war, knowing that Potter could've died – Draco's feelings had changed to something more… tender and possessive. He watched as Potter tore his eyes away from Pansy, and headed off towards the dungeons with his friend Weasley in tow.

"Alright guys, I think it's time we get going as well. Snape wouldn't like it if we were late, it'd make him look bad, you know," Draco said, his heart feeling a little too heavy for his liking and started walking towards the great wooden doors. There was scrambling behind him as the others tried to follow his hasty departure. Draco smirked at the sound of books falling onto the floor and wooden benches scraping floors. It was nice to at least be in control of something.

* * *

Harry sat down at his usual table with Ron and waited for Snape's arrival. On cue, the door behind them slammed open and even after all these years, Harry still jumped in his seat. Snape swept past them, his cloak billowing behind him. Harry had never managed to figure out how he managed to do that billowing effect every time. "Blowers?" Ron offered, back when Harry first posed the question to him.

"Put those wands away, you doddering fools. Haven't you learnt anything after seven years? Turn to page five hundred and sixty. Today we will be making Amortentia, the most powerful love potion in the world. You will be paired with someone else of the opposite sex today, and if your potion fails… be prepared to have an upset stomach the entire day," Snape said, flicking his wand so that the potion cabinets were now open.

Titters started to grow louder in the classroom as excitement and fear permeated the air. Snape seemed to notice this, because he continued on. "The potion will last for only five minutes as you are only taking a little bit. Now go!"

Harry heard Neville whimper in fear and shook his head. It was comforting to know that even after all this time, there were some things that would never change. Feeling happier with that thought, he headed to the potion cabinets and started gathering the ingredients. Just then, the Slytherins walked in, proud as peacocks as they sauntered to their seats, knowing that there would be no punishment for them. Snape was known to be partial to his House, and no one dared make a comment about it for fear of their own House having points deducted.

"Ah, Miss Parkinson. Change seats with Weasley, you'll be doing your potion with Potter instead," Harry heard Snape call out from behind him. Harry's heartbeat sped up a little, knowing that Pansy was going to be his partner today. He couldn't even dredge up the usual glare he had for Snape when he tried to do something to him in class. He finished gathering everything and returned to his seat, where Pansy was already heating up the cauldron.

"Hello Harry," Pansy said, smiling at him as he approached with all of the ingredients cradled in his gloved hands. Taken aback by the sudden kindness, Harry barely had time to react and smile back at her.

"I just... wanted to apologize for what I did at the Great Hall during the war, where I – I tried to suggest giving you up to V-V-Voldemort," she stuttered nervously at the name.

Harry continued smiling at her, a little brighter now. "It's fine, Pansy. I didn't really hold it against you, and I understood where you came from anyway. If I were you, I would've done the same as well I guess," Harry shrugged, and started putting the Belladonna petals into the cauldron. Snape scowled at the peacefulness between Pansy and Harry. Pansy smiled, relieved that Harry didn't hold it against her.

From across the room, Draco glowered at the two as they happily chatted over the cauldron's supposed ingredients. He was so engrossed in watching them that he didn't notice the extra rose thorn that he had dropped in, and the cauldron spat out a gush of half complete Amortentia that got onto Astoria Greengrass, his supposed partner. She squealed in pain as the concoction started giving her blisters.

"Draco! It's not like you to be this distracted, focus!" Snape said angrily, already striding towards their table to look at Astoria's hand. "Go to the infirmary, Madame Pomfrey will have something for your hand. And you, Draco, better finish this potion correctly or else," Snape snarled at him in annoyance.

Petulantly, Draco corrected his mistake by adding an extra pinch of peppermint, while still keeping an eye on Potter and Pansy. Draco dismissed the bitter feeling on his tongue as guilt over injuring Astoria, but honestly it was because of the way Potter had smiled at Pansy. And that meant that Potter was really interested in her. Draco had the utmost temptation to spit on the floor.

* * *

Potions ended with Neville absolutely smitten over a cringing Lavender, and Pansy cooing over how Harry's raven locks were sexy as hell. Pinching his nose in exasperation, Snape requested for a three thousand word essay on the uses and history of Amortentia due the next lesson, at which Harry heard Ron's groan come from behind him. As they left the class, Harry stole one last glance at Pansy, and waved goodbye to her before leaving for History of Magic. Pansy waved back happily with a stupid grin on her face.

A scowling Draco Malfoy swept out of the classroom with Crabbe and Goyle trailing behind him, afraid of the dark look on his face. Pansy caught up with them as they made their way to Divination classes. "What's wrong, my dragon?" Pansy asked, a little confused because of the potion wearing off and at the pissed off look on Draco's face.

"You know full well why, Pansy Amelia Parkinson!" Draco growled, though less angrier than he had been before. He could never stay mad at Pansy for long – she was like the sister he never had, so their fights had never lasted beyond an hour. Pansy snorted with amusement as she realized he was jealous.

"Relax, Draco. I would never take Potter away from you. Which part of that don't you understand?" she asked, patting his cheek gently before climbing up the ladder into the classroom. Professor Trelawney was already in front of the class, ready to start. Draco settled down in front of his crystal ball, and found himself dozing off to the heavy perfumes of Trelawney's room as she went on about death and its omens. He last remembered seeing Harry Potter's face behind his drooping eyelids, his green eyes burning with... something that Draco couldn't identify. Then darkness found him as he drifted into a restless sleep.


	2. Unintentional Accidents

Chapter 2! Just a transition chapter, nothing much. A couple of charged moments between the two.

The next chapter will be more interesting, I promise!

Also, I will update as regularly as I can. Cheers, and enjoy!

EDIT: Oh my god. I made a mistake with the chapter and uploaded the wrong piece. I've corrected it now. Sorry! I'm still a little unfamiliar with the FanFiction story manager.

* * *

"Hey, Ron. Psst!" Harry whispered fiercely to his dozing friend, whose head seemed to be gravitationally attracted to the table. "Huh? Wha - what's going on?" Ron jerked awake, looking around wildly for the disturbance that had woken him up. "It's me, you dimwit," Harry said softly, so that they wouldn't catch Professor Binns' attention.

"Oh, it's you. What'd you wake me up for? I was having such a nice dream about Hermione too..." Ron yawned and stretched, a stupid smile etched onto his face. Harry wrinkled his nose jokingly at what Ron said. To Harry's surprise, Ron turned scarlet at his expression.

"Um, so, what did you wake me up to talk about?" Ron asked, his face still red from thinking about his dream. Harry decided that it was probably best to not probe in his two best friends' relationship - besides, it seemed like a positive dream.

"I was thinking if maybe, just maybe... I should date Pansy Parkinson," Harry said, biting his lip nervously, thinking about the possible reactions Ron might end up having. Ron stared at him for a while, then burst out laughing as softly as he could. "Oh, good joke Harry! You really got me with this one," Ron said, rubbing away a tear from the corner of his eye from laughing too hard.

"I'm not kidding, Ron." Harry frowned at his best friend, who was still clutching his smarting sides. "Seriously? Why in the world would you want to date Pansy Parkinson? She tried to sacrifice you to the Dark Lord just only last year!" Ron cried out in dismay, looking worried now. He was starting to suspect perhaps she had slipped Harry an Amortentia potion during class - maybe that was why Harry was having such weird thoughts.

"I don't hold it against her," Harry waved away Ron's protest.

"Mate, are you okay? Did you take some Amortentia from Parkinson or something?" A worried Ron started waving his hands in front of Harry's face.

"I'm fine! I didn't take any potion, Ron. I dunno man, I just… want to date someone who's the opposite of Cho. I was so sick of her being weepy and so emotional all the time and I thought that Pansy would never be like that," he said, spinning his wand between his fingers as he explained it to Ron. A wry smile found its way onto Ron's face.

"That's fair enough. But have you at least considered dating within our own house? I'm sure there are other girls who aren't weepy as well…" Ron trailed off, letting Harry think about his words. Ginny Weasley's face came to mind immediately, and Harry had to admit that she was rather attractive - but having being Ron's best friend for so long, it was hard to see Ginny in anything but a sisterly light.

Harry waved Ron's suggestion off. "Ginny's too much of a little sister to me, Lavender is dating Dean and I think that Parvati wouldn't be too into dating me, seeing what happened at the Yule Ball." Ron had no choice but to agree with his reasoning, remembering the little disaster he had with Hermione himself.

"Well, I think maybe you should discuss this with 'Mione, maybe she'd have more advice for you regarding girls…" Ron mumbled, thinking about how he didn't know too much about dating either, seeing that before Hermione he had only dated Lavender and it ended up being such a disaster.

"Actually, that's a great idea! Ron, you're a genius!" Harry said happily, clapping his best friend on the back. Ron could only manage a half-grimace-smile as he wondered about his girlfriend's possible reactions - none of which he thought could be good.

* * *

Ronald Bilius Weasley found himself bewildered as he faced both of his best friends.

"Hermione! How can you approve of this thought?" Ron found himself moaning in misery as Hermione bounced in her seat excitedly, already ready to give Harry advice about dating girls. Properly. Hermione grinned guiltily as she gave Ron a peck on his cheek as consolation.

"Ron, I believe that Harry has the right to date whoever he wants. That also unfortunately, includes Slytherins," Hermione said scoldingly to Ron, though without heat in her voice. She continued on.

"I think that the most important thing about chasing a girl is that you have to get to know her friends. That means being at least, on neutral or good terms with Draco Malfoy," Hermione said carefully. "He'd also know the most about her, them having known each other for so long. Malfoy owes you his life anyways, so just ask him to help you, and maybe he can pay his life debt off or something."

Harry hesitated for a moment, thinking about Malfoy. Something about the boy unsettled him, though it wasn't the same type of animosity they had before the war. It was... something more intense, but without hatred. Harry shook his head as if to clear his thoughts. If he was in, then he would go all the way.

"Since I want Pansy, I think it's unavoidable. I'll do it."

Hermione let out a big sigh of relief. The trio spent the rest of their night whiling their hours away in front of the Gryffindor common room fire, snuggled into their favorite chairs while discussing the things that Harry could do for Pansy and what he could possibly ask Draco. And when they all finally went back to their respective dorms at midnight, Harry felt something that he hadn't felt in a long time. A stirring of hope.

* * *

It was a chilly morning as both Gryffindors and Slytherins descended into the dungeons where Snape was already waiting. Christmas was closing in and although the snow wasn't here yet, students had already taken to wearing gloves and scarves to keep warm. Harry regretted not taking out the woolly ones that Mrs Weasley had knitted him - his hands were already starting to freeze up.

"Ah, all of you have finally arrived. Good. Today you will be making Polyjuice potion. The ingredients have already been put on the table for you."

Harry was about to sit down with Ron when Snape's voice rang out across the class again. "Potter, you're going to do this with Mr Malfoy today." As he moved to his new seat, Harry couldn't help but give Snape a little glare. The teacher still seemed to live to torture him.

Draco watched with greedy eyes as Harry walked towards their table. Not that he would ever admit it aloud or show it, but he was thrilled that Snape had complied with his request to let Harry sit with him. Having your godfather for a teacher wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Snape probably thought that Draco wanted to torture Harry - and rightfully so.

Harry dropped his books and quills onto the table before starting to pluck the fluxweed leaves off from the stems to ready them for boiling. "Stop pulling on the leaf so hard, Potter. You're going to rip it in half," Draco said with a frown and took the stems from Harry. He couldn't help but notice how nice the brunette's hands were, slender but with roughened palms from being out in the wilderness for so long.

Harry didn't know how to control his confused feelings. The Slytherins had never been kind to him, and he didn't expect for them to start even after the wizarding war had ended, but it seemed that he was wrong. Harry looked at the shimmery boomslang skin for a long time before clearing his throat.

"Malfoy, I… I need your help with something."

"What?" Draco didn't look away from the cauldron, but continued adding the fluxweed leaves distractedly. He could already guess what Harry was going to ask, and he was sure that if he had looked into his eyes when Harry asked it, he was going to throw a jealous fit. Malfoys weren't exactly known for sharing - and Draco hated sharing anything that he considered his. Including Potter.

"I… um, want to get to know Pansy better."

First name terms already? Draco reminded himself to give Pansy a stern tongue lashing later when they were back in the dungeons. "What would a Gryffindor like you want to do with us Slytherins? You guys practically consider us scum of the earth," Draco responded, finally daring to look into those green eyes. Harry smiled wryly as Draco's cool grey eyes finally met his.

"I've realized not every Slytherin is that bad, Malfoy." Harry's tone was extremely quiet but meaningful, and Draco caught what he was trying to say. The air between the two boys started shimmering - the magic that both of them wielded were manifesting in their emotions, and sparks of red and silver appeared. No one was surprised as it was already a regular occurrence, but this time there was no anger in the moment.

Draco thought back to when he was stuck at Malfoy Manor for the remainder of Voldemort's reign - and this boy beside him had been brought to him. He could scarcely recognize him - a well placed Stinging Hex had made Harry's face swollen and indistinguishable. But it was those beautiful green eyes that he had seen that made him know it was Harry. The same pair of eyes that he was looking into now.

The sheer amount of terror that surged into his veins when he realized that Harry Potter had been finally captured was almost enough to fell him then. But even so, he lied. Because he had hoped that Harry would be able to find a way to stay alive and kill Voldemort, however slim the chance. If he had to lie for it to happen, then so be it. If he had to die for it, then it would've been worth it.

Even with the punishment that he had gotten from Voldemort after Harry had fled, it didn't matter. They were still here, alive and well. Draco took a deep breath and said the words he never thought he would speak. "One way or another, I owe you my life. So yes, I will help you in any way you wish me to. Just don't ask me about what sort of lingerie Pansy wears, I have no idea," he said jokingly, trying to lighten the intense mood between them.

"Weren't you guys dating in fifth year or something?" Harry asked, genuinely confused at Draco's statement. Somehow he felt a little lighter - Draco had agreed, and was even trying to joke with him. Maybe things were indeed improving. But before Draco could respond, Seamus' cauldron exploded from behind them, and the blast threw him and Harry onto the ground.

Coughing amongst all the dust and mayhem, Draco found himself pressed up against Harry Potter. He had fallen right onto top of the brunette, trying to shield him from anything that might've landed on them. Draco felt the hardness of Harry's chest, and he found himself thanking Finnigan. As he pressed a hand onto Harry's chest to try to get up, their eyes met. A funny feeling streaked through Harry as he saw the emotions hidden behind those icy irises, though he couldn't seem to decipher any of them.

Forcing himself to stop thinking about Harry's chest, Draco managed to finally get up. He mourned the loss of the warmth against him as he offered a hand to help Harry up. Still a little dazed and feeling a little weird from the cauldron explosion, he grabbed onto Draco's hand and got himself reoriented.

Snape had finally cleaned up the mess; except for some of it on Draco, the class was already spick and span.

"Finnigan! What in the world are you doing? You added powdered unicorn horn instead of bicorn? Fool!" Snape hit Finnigan on the back of his head. Knowing that it was his fault, he kept on apologizing to Harry about it. Draco couldn't even bring it in himself to be mad at Finnigan; he was too entirely pleased about falling onto Harry. It was then that Draco noticed that their entire bicorn horn was already submerged into the potion. Though he was uncertain of what differences it would cause to the potion, Draco didn't want to bring it up, thinking it unimportant.

"Now that we're back to the potions," Snape giving Seamus a pointed glare, "add your final ingredients, and pour it into two different flasks. Then add your partner's hair to your potion." Harry did as told, and remembered the time when he had drank the potion and transformed into Gregory Goyle. The thought was enough to give him the heebie jeebies for a while. The two boys exchanged strands of their hair, and put them into their respective flasks. Draco's flask started bubbling and the potion turned into a bright, shimmery gold, while Harry's did the same, though it turned into a shimmering navy color.

"Well, you look tastier than Goyle," Harry muttered under his breath and downed the potion. Draco half-heard what Harry had said and spat out some of his own potion in shock - thankfully he was already almost done with it. The transformation was painful, with Harry growing a little taller, and his pants felt a little too tight for his liking. Draco shrank in height a little, but still fit in his clothes, though they felt a bit tight around the top. He spoke, but in Harry's voice now.

"Green does suit you quite well, Potter. But red is definitely not my color." Draco felt rather weird, now that he had _become_ the boy that he dreamt of at night. _I wonder how Potter looks like under all of these robes..._ Harry looked down and saw that he was Draco in Gryffindor robes… and he was right, the red didn't go very well, though Harry had no idea why. Harry tried his best Draco impersonation.

"I'm sure I look ravishing in anything, Potter. Now get those cute eyes off me." Draco-Harry stared at him for a while, then burst out laughing, as did the rest of the class. Even Snape looked quite amused. "Mr Potter, one would think that you were my godson if they didn't know better. You even know the lilt he uses - observant, aren't you?" A faint blush stained Harry-Draco's cheeks, but he jutted his chin out stubbornly, just like the real Draco always did. "It's hard to ignore your former mortal enemy's habits, Professor. Some things remain the same, even after all these years."

Still smiling, Draco-Harry felt his insides turn bitter. _Yes, some things will always remain the same. Even if I wanted it to change, you would never change anything for me. What a stupid thought to have, Draco. Malfoys don't ever beg._


	3. Unseen Intent

To clarify why Fred and George are back:

Mrs Weasley made them come back to finish their education even though Weasley's Wizard Wheezes was already going very well. The store is currently managed by their assistants. They also have a branch in Hogsmeade now! :)

As for the rest:

Harry and Ron wanted to become Aurors, Hermione wanted to work in the Ministry and the Ministry stipulated that all Seven years had to finish their exams to qualify for jobs in the Ministry. Additionally, to graduate everyone had to retake the entire year as the Death Eater's short reign in Hogwarts had screwed up their syllabus.

Enjoy!

* * *

After chatting with Pansy and submitting their Amortentia essays, Harry left the classroom as Draco, and Ron as Crabbe. It was weird seeing himself walk away with Pansy and Astoria, and in Slytherin robes nonetheless. Harry wondered if that would've been him if he had chosen Slytherin back when the Sorting Hat had asked - but abruptly decided that it didn't matter anyways.

Who cared if Slytherin colors brought out the color of his eyes, right? Ron's groan of despair jerked him right out of his thoughts and back into reality. "After the war you'd think that there would be no more torture. But no! I have to taste Crabbe's potion again!"

Harry couldn't help but chuckle, and immediately stopped because it didn't suit him… Draco. He was still Draco. "Well, at least it'll wear off soon, right? Pansy's wore off so quickly… and quit thinking about Crabbe, we have Quidditch practice!" Consoled by the thought of Quidditch, the two quickly made their way back towards the Fat Lady's portrait.

"Passwor- wait, aren't you two Slytherins? What are you doing here?" the Fat Lady asked suspiciously, eyeing them both with great dislike. "We're Gryffindors, ma'am. We're under the effects of Polyjuice potion," Harry explained. Ron's hair was already starting to fade back to his normal red, so the Fat Lady opened up for them after they said 'Silvermoon'.

Climbing through the portrait hole, Harry sighed happily as the warmth of the Gryffindor common room surrounded him. Then a piercing scream rang through the room, shredding his eardrums. Scowling at the third year who was looking at him in fear, Harry immediately climbed up into his dormitory, slamming the door behind him hard.

He could still hear the terrified third year. "B-but it was D-Draco Malfoy! What is he d-doing here? This is Gryffindor's common room!" Shutting the noise out, Harry started to change into his Quidditch robes. He drew the curtains around his bed, feeling weird that he wasn't looking at himself - but rather, Draco.

When he finally stripped down to his underwear, Harry was shocked to find scars all over the blond's body. The last time Harry had seen him shirtless was in the Prefect's bathroom in their sixth year, and Draco had none of these scars. His skin was pristine, shining in the softly glowing light of the bathroom…

Harry stopped that thought right there. And he continued looking for more scars - then remembered that the Dark Mark that was on Draco's arm wasn't there. That meant that perhaps after Voldemort's death, the Mark had lifted or disappeared… he found himself touching where the Mark would have been, wondering about what had happened to Draco over the course of one year for him to sustain such scars - _wouldn't he have been treated with care? His parents loved him so much that they betrayed Voldemort..._

Bewildered, Harry started to dress really slowly as his thoughts slowly ran through his head, more information coming in as he recalled bits and pieces of the war. That was, until Ron came into the room with a loud _bang_ of the door opening. Harry almost jumped out of his skin, and started dressing faster. He didn't like the idea of anyone else seeing Draco's body - and it wasn't even his to look at.

Harry had to admit that Draco had a great body - the blond definitely knew he looked good. His body was almost godlike with the most defined abs that Harry had seen amongst all the boys he knew and the scars only seemed to add to the bad boy image Draco already had. Suddenly realizing that he was fantasizing about Malfoy, Harry scrambled to put on his clothes, horrified by the thoughts that he was having.

"C'mon Harry, let's go! Let's not keep the team waiting," Ron yelled, already walking out of the room. The boy changed fast. Harry shrugged on his Quidditch robes and grabbed his new Firebolt Flare, running out of the room to catch up with Ron.

* * *

When Harry stepped into the Gryffindor changing rooms, he felt the entire atmosphere turn from warm to chilly within the span of two seconds. Holding his hands up, Harry quickly said, "I'm Harry, guys. I'm took Polyjuice potion, and I'm stuck looking like Malfoy for now."

When the silence stretched on, Ron piped up. "I can vouch for that. Look! I still look somewhat like that doddering oaf Crabbe!"

Then the entire room burst into roaring laughter at Harry and Ron, who looked extremely out of place in their Gryffindor Quidditch robes. "Hoo boy. I reckon red's not his colour, is it?" Fred and George were still laughing uproariously as Harry stood there helplessly.

"Okay guys, enough!" Amused as Harry was by the entire situation, he was also getting a little annoyed. Why wasn't his potion wearing off? Ron was already beginning to look like himself again, yet Harry still looked like Draco. The team settled down a little, though an occasional snicker was still heard.

"Today we're going to be practicing strategy. Ginny, you'll lead the team and I'll be watching from below. Pay attention to Ginny's signals and we'll do fine against Slytherin, got it?" Harry said after explaining his plans to the rest of the team.

"Got it, bossman. Though I have to admit it's weird talking to you and not wanting to punch you in the face. Wait, who am I kidding? Your face is so punchable," George said, grinning as he strode past Harry onto the pitch.

"I'd punch myself if I had to look like this forever too, George," Harry said with a wry expression. "Now all of you, up in the air and let's go!"

* * *

While trying to do his homework on Divination, Draco found it weird that Pansy and Astoria's Polyjuice potion effects were already gone, while he was still stuck looking like Harry. Reminded by the thought of him, Draco immediately spun to face Pansy while they were studying in the Slytherin dungeons.

"I just remembered. Why are you and Potter on first name terms already?" Draco demanded, surprising Pansy as she looked up from her parchment.

"I thought that we could put everything in the past behind us and be friends, so we decided to start by using each other's first names instead of surnames." She rolled her eyes as she realized that this was another jealous fit being thrown by Draco. "Look, I'm not interested in Harry, and I know you are. But we're just friends, so what's got your panties in such a twist?"

"Panties in a twist? I don't wear panties!" Draco spluttered, thinking that Pansy had gone a little mad.

"Not literally, you dunghead! It's an expression that Harry told me Granger used a lot. It means to be uptight over something. But anyways, I'd like you to know there's nothing between us, so can you stop this ridiculous fit?"

"Yeah, well, he wants to have something with you," Draco muttered darkly, running his fingers through his - Harry's hair. It was extremely thick and smooth. _No wonder he always has that sexy just-fucked hair,_ Draco realized.

"He WHAT?" Pansy yelled in surprise.

"Ouch, shut your trap woman! Don't you girls have pitch limits?" Draco cringed, covering his ears. A few other Slytherins turned over to glare at Pansy and Draco, whom they thought was Harry. _Great, now everyone's going to think it's true that Pansy and Harry are dating._ Draco felt extremely unhappy at that thought.

"What put that crazy thought in your head, Draco? Are you mad?" Pansy asked him incredulously. "It's not a crazy thought, Pansy. He asked me to help with chasing you," muttered Draco in the most petulant tone of voice ever.

"And you said yes? You are such an idiot!" Pansy screeched, hitting him with her Potions textbook. "Well, what else could I have said?" Draco yelled, trying to shield himself from her attacks. "No, Potter, I won't help you because I want you to myself and I want to fuck the living daylights out of you?"

It was too weird for Pansy, hearing that from Draco who looked like Harry. Glaring at him, she finally stopped. "It's hard to hit or be mad at you when you look like Harry. God knows he looks too nice for anything that you would say or do. That sneer you have _so_ doesn't fit his face."

Draco smoothed his expression out, knowing that Pansy was right. He had seen himself in the mirror earlier on, and the sneer that he had on definitely didn't suit Harry's gentle face.

"Anyways, as I was saying, you are an idiot. But since we're already at this step, we might as well make the best of it," Pansy continued on as if nothing had happened.

"Make the best of it? What the hell are you talking about?" Draco stared at Pansy as if she had finally gone off the rails. Or taken too much drugs. Both were quite possible. Pansy looked at him with exasperation.

"Since he's asked for your help, you're going to have to spend a lot more time with him, right? I'll pretend to agree to his dates and be clueless, while YOU," she emphasized, poking him on the chest, "can tag along, and later on when you've grown close, try to seduce him, or whatever it is that you want to do with him."

Draco's eyes widened at the suggestion that Pansy was making. She was right, he realized. Harry would probably never see this coming. "You're a fucking genius, Pansy! I could kiss you right now!" Draco exclaimed.

"Ew Draco, stop. You know you don't swing that way."

"I know I don't, but I could seriously do it just to show you how happy I am." Draco grinned at her. Scrunching up her face in mock disgust, Pansy went back to her parchment. That was, until Draco shook her a few seconds later.

"I just realized something. What if he doesn't swing _my_ way? Then what would be the point of this whole thing?" Draco felt panicky at the thought, his palms already starting to turn a little sweaty.

"Well, you never know until you try, right? Besides, you two always had this weird passive-aggressive attraction going on. Maybe it's just undeveloped between the both of you. And speaking of which, why do you still look like Harry?" Pansy frowned, looking at her watch. "It's been almost half a day. The potion should've worn off a long time ago."

Draco looked a little uncomfortable. "I don't know, but the entire bicorn horn fell into our cauldron when Finnigan's cauldron exploded. It's supposed to be powdered, but I thought that maybe it wouldn't have mattered…"

"You should go see Snape, Draco. I mean, maybe he might have an antidote or a way to turn you back to normal…" Pansy said, turning back to focus on her Ancient Runes essay. Knowing that he was dismissed, he decided to follow Pansy's advice and headed off to visit Snape in his office. Knocking twice, Draco then entered the office. Snape looked up in surprise, not expecting to see Harry Potter.

"Potter? I thought it was Finnigan coming for his detention. What are you doing here?" Snape asked, frowning in puzzlement.

"Sir, it's me. I'm Draco. The bicorn horn fell into my cauldron whole when Finnigan's cauldron exploded. I didn't think it would've mattered so I didn't say anything in class..." Draco trailed off, looking a little guilty. Snape pinched his nose in frustration and muttered something that sounded like "Finnigan" under his breath.

"There's nothing I can do for you, Draco. It'll last till the end of tomorrow, I expect. The horn made the potion stronger. The reason why we used powder in the class was to diminish its effect, but I guess you're just going to have to live with it until then."

"Oh… thanks anyways, for clarifying this with me." Draco turned away, about to leave, then turned back to look at Snape. "Sir? Please don't punish Finnigan even more for this, it wasn't exactly his fault that this happened."

Raising an eyebrow in surprise, Snape nodded. He left the classroom, about to turn back to the Slytherin dungeon when he saw that the dusk was approaching, and decided to take a walk to soothe his ragged feelings instead. A couple of young Gryffindor girls walked past him, giggling and whispering shyly. Draco frowned, not understanding why they were showing close to no animosity towards him, until he realized that he still looked like Harry. He kept forgetting that he wasn't exactly himself - and something spurred him to satisfy his curiosity about Harry. So he made his way towards the Gryffindor Tower, wondering what surroundings the Gryffindors lived in.

As he approached the Fat Lady's portrait, he saw Neville Longbottom ahead of him. "Silvermoon!" he said to the painting, and she swung forward to admit him. Draco stepped up to the painting before it closed, and darted inside as well. From what he knew, Harry shared a room with Weasley, Finnigan, Thomas and Longbottom. So Draco followed behind him. There weren't many people in the cozy common room, and his green robes went unnoticed.

"Oh, Harry. It's you. Glad to see you've turned back into yourself again," a grinning Longbottom greeted him, patting him on the back.

"Uh, yeah. Thanks Lo- Neville," Draco quickly corrected himself. Not suspecting anything, Neville went to his own bed and plopped down onto it. A quick survey of the different beds and Draco found himself walking towards the cleanest one. The only thing that identified it as Harry's were the two picture frames hanging above his bed. One of him as a baby with his parents, and the other a picture of him with Sirius Black and Remus Lupin, smiling.

Feeling a little bittersweet looking at those photographs, Draco thought about how Harry had almost lost so much in the war. His godfather, his father's best friend and so much more. Wanting to forget about these depressing thoughts, Draco kicked off his shoes and stripped naked before he got onto the bed and drew the curtains around him. It was almost like a compulsion for him to find Harry, but he knew he couldn't exactly do that. So he settled for this - sleeping in his bed, surrounded by his scent.

He drifted off to sleep without hesitation, feeling safe and protected.


	4. An Unexpected Surprise

Ooh, I shivered while writing this chapter. The two boys seem to be getting out of MY control, I don't know what they're doing anymore.

Draco is such a delicious boy.

* * *

After a fulfilling day of Quidditch, Harry felt satisfied with their new and practiced strategy. As the team descended onto the pitch, he noticed that there was someone standing near the entrance, waiting. Upon closer inspection, he realized it was Pansy.

"Pansy? What are you doing here?" Harry asked as he started towards her. She had this rather scared and panicked look about her and he didn't really like that she was feeling that way.

"Harry, have you seen Draco? He hasn't been back after he went to see Snape about the Polyjuice potion's effect, and I haven't heard anything from him either. It's highly unusual of him to do this," she said nervously as the rest of the Gryffindor team started to close in.

"It's fine, Pansy. I'll go back to the dorm and change, then I'll go look for him. My Patronus is a stag, and I'll send you a message if I find him. Go and have dinner first," he said, gently urging Pansy to go eat. She looked extremely pale in the cold, and her worry wasn't exactly helping either.

"Thanks, Harry." Pansy turned and walked away, thankful for the warmth of the castle as she headed away towards the Great Hall.

"Thank God you look like yourself again. I don't think I could've stood much more of kind Malfoy. What was that about though?" Ron asked as they all walked towards the changing rooms. Harry frowned as he thought about the possible places that Draco could be at.

"Pansy says Draco is missing, and she's quite worried about him because this isn't his usual behaviour," Harry explained to Ron.

"Well, if anyone can find him, it's you. You've still got the Marauder's Map, right? Just tap it and look for Malfoy. After all, you've had lots of practice in your sixth year," Ron said wryly.

"Shut it, Ron," Harry said, blushing a little. He had to admit that he was quite worried about Draco as well - he was always somewhere with someone. Crabbe, Goyle, Pansy or Blaise. He was never, ever alone. _Wait, why the fuck am I worried about him too?_ Harry frowned at his thoughts. He seemed to be thinking more of the blond Slytherin than Pansy recently. After declaring himself too lazy to head back to the dorms, Ron handed Harry his broom and left to head towards the Great Hall for dinner.

"I'll save something for you, Harry!"

Harry laughed to himself and shook his head. Knowing how Ron ate, he'd probably finish Harry's share as well. He decided that he would call Dobby to bring him up some dinner later on. When he entered the common room, it was deserted. Harry breathed in the scent of home, and felt a pleasant shudder go up his back from the delicious warmth. Pushing the door to his room open, Harry was surprised to see the curtains around his bed drawn. After latching both brooms onto their holders, he pulled the curtains aside - to see a particular blond lying there, naked under the covers. A blush slowly stole up his neck as he realized that Draco Malfoy was in his bed, totally undressed.

"This moment can't get any weirder," Harry muttered. Thankful that he didn't have to go hunting for Draco, Harry whispered, "Expecto Patronum." The graceful silver stag burst out of his wand, and galloped a couple of rounds around the room before coming to nuzzle Harry.

"Hello, Prongs," Harry said affectionately to his Patronus. "Help me tell Pansy Parkinson that Draco's safe, alright?" With another nuzzle, the stag flew gracefully out of the window to send the message.

Harry sat down onto the bed, watching Draco sleep. _He's beautiful,_ Harry thought, looking at the way how Draco looked years younger with shadows cast over his boyish face. His eyelashes were long, and his lips looked too soft. Mumbling incoherently in his sleep about something delicious, Draco slept on, unaware of Harry's scrutiny. He felt bad about waking him up from what seemed to be such a nice dream, but he had to do it anyways.

"Draco. Draco, wake up," Harry said, shaking him gently.

Draco felt a warm hand touching his shoulder, shaking him. He tried to ignore it and go back to his dream. Harry was in his bed, under him and moaning… Draco didn't want to wake up, he wanted to go back to whatever he was doing to Harry, but the hand shook him until he was awake, the dream slipping through his fingers. Growling in frustration, Draco decided that he was going to kill Blaise for waking him from such a delicious dream. He sat up, ready to hit Blaise with a Bat-Bogey Hex - until he remembered where he was, and realized that he was face to face with the object of his dreams.

Harry heard Draco growl in that half-awake voice of his, and it sent a shiver of awareness up his arm. That growl was sexy and Harry felt his insides turn unexpectedly. _What's happening to me?_ Then Draco opened his eyes and sat up so suddenly that Harry had no time to react - and their faces were now a mere inch away from each other's.

The air around them crackled with unexpected sexual tension - bright red sparks went off around them, the power surrounding the two manifesting into corporeal form. Harry's heart was going into panic mode, pounding furiously as Draco's fierce grey eyes stared into his. _Would he be as good a kisser as I've heard from all the other girls?_ He wondered, and then mentally slapped himself for having such weird thoughts.

Draco watched the conflict that went though Harry in that moment - and the desire that glazed over his green eyes. That sealed the deal for him. Thanking god that he was himself again, he pressed his lips against Harry's. He thought that the first time that he kissed Harry Potter, it would be gentle like how the boy was, warm with a slow, burning desire. But he realized now that he couldn't have been more wrong about that.

The moment their lips met, Draco was lost. The magic surrounding them amplified his desire, and he kissed Harry hard, his tongue looking for an invitation to his mouth. Harry shivered with want, and returned the kiss with as much fervor as he could. Draco's hand went up, skimming across Harry's exposed neck, and into his inky mass of hair.

Harry never thought he'd feel this way with just a kiss, and definitely not with Draco Malfoy. As some panic threatened to rise up and consume him, Draco softened the kiss and pulled Harry closer into him, and the thought fell away. _I'll never see peppermint the same way again,_ Harry thought. Draco tasted like a delicious dash of peppermint mixed with firewhiskey, leaving a warm feeling in his mouth. He traced his fingers across the multitude of scars on Draco's chest, eliciting a garbled groan from the boy.

For Draco, this was like a dream come true. The taste of Harry on his mouth, bodies pressed against each other - and he groaned against Harry's mouth at the delicious feeling when he touched his bare chest, as if branding his mark against his cold, exposed skin. The desire that burned through him was heavy and intense, but he knew that he had to stop before things went somewhere that Harry would regret - so he pushed himself away from the boy. He immediately regretted it. Those glazed green eyes were heavy-lidded, his own desire mirrored in the swirling emerald depths. Draco had never seen a sexier sight than that. He knew that he had to say something first – or he would lose control of the entire situation.

"Well Potter, you're not as bad a kisser as I thought you were. You'll do fine with Pansy." His throat tightened at the thought of Harry kissing Pansy like this - like how they were a few moments ago. Still disoriented from the desire that Draco had ignited within him, Harry faintly realized that he had said 'Potter' instead of his name, and that bothered him more than it should have.

"Well, you're definitely a better kisser than Cho. Do you do this to every prospective suitor who wants Pansy?" Harry asked breathlessly, still trying to wrap his head around everything that just happened.

"No, Potter. But I figured that since you were serious, I should test you out." Draco got onto his knees, the sheet falling away from his body. Harry gasped and blushed - the blond was definitely not lacking down below. He didn't dare to violate Draco's privacy while he was still under the effect of Polyjuice potion.

Draco tipped Harry's chin up with a finger, moving closer to his ear as he did that, and whispered.

"You taste better than anyone else I've ever kissed though."

Harry shuddered when Draco licked the shell of his ear, and he had never felt more confused in that moment. Wariness, confusion, desire and fear mixed in him, a potent combination that threatened to make him do stupid things right there and then.

"I - I have to go. R-Ron's waiting for me."

Harry broke away and didn't look back, running as fast as he could. _Anywhere,_ he thought. _Anywhere but wherever Draco Malfoy is._ The things that were running through his mind was overwhelming, and he ran blindly, trying to get them out of his head. Just then, Harry crashed into someone. A screech sounded as she dropped all of her books and they both fell to the ground, Harry landing on his side while the girl fell backwards from the impact.

"Ouch, Harry. Don't you look where you're going?" Hermione asked, wincing as she massaged her bruised bottom. "I'm sorry, Hermione. I just had to - to get away," he said breathlessly, still panting from his sprint. "What in Merlin's name would make you run away in such fear?" Her eyes widened as the possibilities came to her.

"Did someone attack you?" Hermione scrambled to help him up, fussing over his disheveled appearance. "Not in the way that you're thinking," he muttered quietly. She looked at him with narrowed eyes, and then smiled like a satisfied Cheshire cat.

"Someone kissed you. Who was it? Did Romilda Vane attack you under the mistletoe?" She snickered, picking up her books. Startled, Harry looked at her. "The disheveled hair and swollen lips gave it away," Hermione explained.

"No, I wasn't attacked by her," Harry replied in a dry tone, remembering how she had tried to give him a love potion once.

"Well, was the kiss at least good?" Hermione asked matter-of-factly as they made their way to the Great Hall. Harry didn't speak for a few minutes, obviously struggling with his thoughts. Hermione waited, knowing that he would say it eventually.

"He was a great kisser," Harry finally said. Hermione almost dropped her books again, but managed to grab onto them when she stumbled.

"Wait, what? HE?" Hermione's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "I didn't know you were interested in guys, Harry."

"Well, I don't – not usually," he sputtered, not knowing how to respond without looking like an idiot.

"It's fine, Harry. Nothing you do will change my opinion of you. Who's the lucky guy?" Hermione asked nonchalantly, as if she was asking about the weather.

"I'd rather not say," Harry muttered, still thinking about how he was attacked by Draco Malfoy in his own bed and actually quite liked it. Hermione shrugged, not wanting to pry. She knew that when the time came, and if it were necessary, Harry would talk to both her and Ron about it.

"Ah, dinner. Do you think Ron's left anything for us?" Hermione asked teasingly as they approached the Great Hall. Harry shook his head in mock despair, but felt a grin return to his face.

* * *

Draco groaned and fell backwards onto Harry's bed. He wasn't sure if that was a screw up of magnificent proportions or the best thing that he had ever decided to do in his life. He touched his lips and smiled. It would be a memory that he would cherish forever. Knowing Harry, he would probably do everything that he could to avoid Draco.

That thought made him feel severely depressed. Then an idea popped into his head. If he could get Pansy to actively help him get Harry… then this might work after all. At least Draco now knew that Harry was at the very least, attracted to him. He could work with that. A smirk found its way onto his face at the memory of what had happened here just a few minutes ago. He hopped off the bed and was about to get dressed when he realized his stomach was rumbling.

 _Ah, so that was where he had escaped to._

Draco put back on the rest of his clothes, and made his way to the Great Hall for dinner.

* * *

Pansy looked up at the doors of the Great Hall opened to admit Harry Potter and his female friend, Hermione Granger. She narrowed her eyes when she saw that Harry's hair was more disheveled than usual, and his lips swollen from a recent kiss.

 _It can't be Granger, she's dating Weasley… and Granger doesn't look like she just kissed Harry either. Who kissed him? Oh no, Draco's going to be so mad when he sees this... speaking of which, where is he?_ Pansy thought to herself as she nibbled on a piece of turkey.

Harry's Patronus had arrived about fifteen minutes ago, before dinner had started. The beautiful stag had sidled up to her, rubbed its face affectionately against her cheek and delivered the message that Draco was safe, before fading away. Feeling rather relieved, Pansy went to the Great Hall with Blaise and Astoria for dinner. Just as she was about to get up and go ask Harry where Draco was, the blond walked into the hall as well, and headed straight to the Slytherin table.

"Saved you a seat. Where have you been the entire day?" Pansy demanded. Draco just shrugged evasively, tucking into his plate of turkey. It was then that she realized that Draco's hair was just as messy – which was a big taboo for him, because God forbid a disheveled and messy Draco – and his lips were just as swollen as Harry's.

"You kissed Harry, didn't you?" Pansy asked as quietly as she could, not wanting Blaise to overhear. Blaise was a good friend, but he was a notorious gossiper and Pansy hated letting him know about things, because the next day everyone else would know.

Draco looked at her in surprise.

"How did you know? It's not like we came in together or anyone else saw us," he asked, starting to feel a little uncomfortable that others might know about him and Harry. Pansy snorted in the most inelegant manner before answering him.

"Please, both of you walk in late, with messy hairstyles and lips swollen like you just went on a kissing marathon. You _never_ leave your hair like that unless it's after sex or a heavy make out session. Isn't it obvious enough?" she asked, rolling her eyes. Draco made an exaggerated sigh.

"Oh, whatever shall I do now that you've seen through our guises? Please, do pray tell, Miss Parkinson," Draco said mockingly, earning him a few jabs in his side from Pansy, who shrieked at him in mock outrage.

"Okay, okay, you win! Stop tickling me!" Draco held both his hands up in surrender.

* * *

From across the hall, Hermione made the same observation as Pansy did. _This is going to get interesting,_ she pondered as she sat down beside Ron. When she looked at her plate, there was a piece of steaming hot turkey waiting for her.

Looking at her boyfriend, she asked, "You actually left something for me?"

"Always the tone of surprise," Ron said dryly as he continued eating his dinner. Hermione blushed scarlet and gave him a peck on the cheek as she tucked into her food. Harry, however, was looking across the table where Pansy was laughing with Draco, tickling and obviously joking with him.

Harry felt an unusual bout of jealousy at that. He was _sure_ that the jealousy was directed at Draco because he was so close to his potential girlfriend. _Yeah, keep telling yourself that, Harry Potter. Maybe you'll believe it someday._ He shook his head with a wry smile, knowing that it wasn't the truth. But he had to believe in it for now – because what other choice did he have? The confusion within him was growing by the second, and he had no idea what to do with his riotous feelings. _Forget about the kiss, Harry,_ his best friends would've told him.

Harry tucked into his food, refusing to look towards the Slytherin table any longer.

 _If only it were that easy,_ he thought sadly.


	5. Too Little, Too Late

Things are getting interesting...

To the Spanish reviewer (I hope I Google Translated your request properly) I'm sorry to say that this will only have Draco x Harry - Pansy will have someone else in the near future. This is a transition chapter. The plot thickens...

 _~Intensifying intensifies~_

* * *

It seemed that wherever Harry went, Draco was there too. _Does he own a Marauder's Map as well? Why does he keep appearing wherever I am?_ Harry thought rather irritatedly. Not wanting to be caught walking anywhere near Draco, he turned a corner into a secret corridor that would take him to Transfiguration classes faster than the usual route.

It didn't help that every time Harry saw him, he had some Slytherin girl on his arm, looking at him adoringly and hanging onto every word he said. It was infuriatingly annoying. He stepped into the corridor, which sloped gently downwards as the path went on. Stepping out into the empty Transfiguration classroom from behind a tapestry, Harry sat down and waited for both of his best friends to come.

Hermione arrived first, and noticed Harry sitting alone in the empty classroom.

"Well, this is new. Harry Potter early for a class," Hermione teased as she sat down beside him. "Hey, I'm not late for every class, Hermione," Harry retorted jokingly just as Ron stepped into the classroom. The trio settled down into their chairs, deciding to make use of the empty classroom before everyone else arrived.

"Look, guys… I've been thinking about it, and I'm not too sure if it's true but… I think I might be er, bisexual," Harry said, holding his breath as he waited for his friends to respond to his statement. Hermione shrugged – she had already said that she didn't care earlier on, but it was Ron's reaction that Harry worried about the most.

"You're bisexual? Jeez, why didn't you say so earlier?" Ron asked, his eyes wide with surprise.

"I didn't know how you were going to react, Ron," Harry muttered, remembering how his best friend had scoffed at Seamus for being a queer back in their fifth year. Ron rolled his eyes in exasperation.

"Look, whatever mindless thing I said back then was nothing but a passing thought. We're still friends, aren't we? And to top that off, you're my best friend! I'd have your back even if you liked… house-elves or something," Ron said, grinning. The last part of his comment earned him a glare from Hermione, who was still fronting S.P.E.W to the other students.

"But what brought this thought on?" the fiery haired Weasley looked at his best friend curiously. "It can't have been me, we've been chums for years… right?" His eyes widened as the possibilities started to run through his head.

"Stop it, Ron! He's not interested in you," scoffed Hermione, who was already unpacking her things for Transfiguration. He let out an exaggerated sigh of relief, at which both Harry and Hermione hit him in the arm.

"Blimey, that hurts!" Ron yelped.

"Serves you right for thinking up ridiculous things like that." Although it didn't seem like much, Harry felt almost liberated knowing that his friends were fine with him being… interested in guys.

"But who is it though?" A curious Ron just had to ask. "I'll… I'll tell you guys when I'm ready," Harry muttered evasively and started to unpack his things as well. Ron looked like he was about to protest, and just then Professor McGonagall entered the classroom.

"The golden trio, so early for class? This is new. Thirty points to Gryffindor," she said, winking at them conspiratorially before the rest of the class started to stream in. Any protest that Ron had against Harry's statement faded away with that unexpected gift.

* * *

Draco was a patient man. He wasn't in a rush to hunt for Harry. Wherever Harry went, he would know, because of a little angel that now sat on his shoulder. It was a red spark, and it belonged to Harry's… magic. It used to be a part of him, but it now was bonded to Draco. He woke up in the morning to the thing buzzing above his face; he had almost fallen out of bed in shock. It was only after speaking to it that he learnt that it was Harry's magic.

Wherever Harry went, the spark would know. And when Draco asked, the spark would tell – it was as simple as that. It was old magic - and Draco knew that it would mean Harry would either try even harder to run away from him once he found out, or come running to him. No one else was able to see it, so he didn't try to bring it up either. Having Pansy think him crazy would be disastrous to say the least – the last time he mentioned something weird, she hit him over the head with a frying pan.

Wincing at the memory, Draco parted ways with the girl hanging on his arm – who was she anyways? – and walked into Transfiguration. There he was, already sitting with his two best friends. Deciding to bide his time, Draco decided that the best strategy was to ignore him and treat him like he used to – harshly. _That might get him back into his comfort zone, and when the time is right I'll go in for the kill._

Pansy gave Draco an affectionate peck on the cheek as he slid into the seat beside hers. "What took you so long?" she asked, frowning at him. Class was about to begin, and thankfully he had made it on time.

"Had to entertain some second year – she was jabbering on and on about the graduation ball, not that I would actually take her," he explained with a slight sneer on his face. Harry glowered over at the two when Pansy gave him a kiss on the cheek. Their conversation quickly died off when McGonagall started speaking, to Harry's satisfaction.

"Today we will be practicing the _Ducklifors_ spell, in which you will attempt to transfigure the rats in front of you into a duck. Use a slashing motion with your wand; you may begin now."

" _Ducklifors!_ " Ron yelled, transforming his rat into a duck… with a rat's tail. Harry burst out laughing at the bizarre sight in front of him, while Hermione hurriedly tried to fix the poor rat.

" _Reparifarge!_ " she cried, and the hybrid-duck rat returned to normal. From across the classroom, Draco snickered as his own duck waddled happily with Pansy's.

"I see even after going on a mission to kill the Dark Lord, Weasley still can't transfigure a rat into a duck. Must be painful," Draco drawled, not pretending to keep his voice low. Crabbe and Goyle guffawed from two tables away, as they always did when Draco insulted any of the golden trio.

"Shut it, Malfoy," Harry snarled, feeling some of his usual anger towards Draco return. _This is good, anger is good,_ Harry decided. But when he turned around to face them with that disgustingly delicious smirk on his face, Harry felt his anger disappear almost instantaneously. The blond winked at him smugly, and Harry let his disgust at himself manifest on his face, hoping that perhaps Draco would mistake it as disgust for him. _Oh god, what have you become? Harry Potter, fancying Draco Malfoy? No!_

It was then that Harry finally noticed a red spark flying around Draco's head, occasionally landing on his shoulder. _What is that spark…?_ Harry frowned and rubbed his eyes. Nobody else seemed to have noticed or commented on it, so he wasn't too sure about bringing it up lest his friends think him crazier than he already was - until he saw Draco let the spark land on his finger like a butterfly would, before putting it back onto his shoulder.

"Am I going mad?" Harry whispered to himself, and decided that it would be best to just stop thinking about the blond, however hard it might be. Hermione frowned at him, and grabbed his arm gently.

"What's wrong, Harry? Why do you keep rubbing your eyes?" she asked worriedly, while wordlessly transfiguring her rat into a yellow duck. Harry would never cease to be amazed by his best friend - a muggle-born at that - whose talent at magic seemed endless.

"I don't know… I keep seeing a red spark around Draco Malfoy's shoulder. He and I seem to be the only ones that can see it, since no one else has made any comments about it. I mean, if there was a spark flying around someone's head constantly, someone would've noticed by now, right?" Harry said in a panicky tone.

Raising an eyebrow, Hermione sat in thought for a minute, before looking back at him. "Harry, cast a spell on me. Just something gentle, like _Muffliato_ or something." Harry did as she said, and red sparks burst out from his wand and slowly drifted onto her like flakes of falling snow. The sparks looked suspiciously similar to the one flying around Draco's head.

"Just as I thought," a satisfied Hermione said.

"What? What did you think?" Harry was becoming extremely agitated at Hermione's mysteriousness. He hated it when she took so long to explain something. Ron was too engrossed in trying to turn his rat into a duck to pay attention - every time he did the _Ducklifors_ spell, his duck would still have some part of a rat for its body.

"I can see the spark that's flying around Malfoy's head, because I'm afflicted with your magic now. And that spark is also your magic, but it's now bonded to Malfoy for some reason. I'm guessing it was due to an extreme charge of emotions combining with your magic that caused this," she explained matter-of-factly, before her face changed to a cat ate the canary smile that scared the living daylights out of Harry.

"So I'm guessing that the boy who kissed you is Malfoy?" Hermione asked, while Harry felt a blush slowly creeping up his neck. "I - he - we," he stammered, staring intently at the fluffy little tail that his duckling had, trying to think up an answer. _Why did his friend had to be so inquisitive?_ He gave up a few seconds later and turned his head to the ceiling.

"Yes, we kissed. And the worst part is I don't even want to be attracted to him," Harry groaned, running his hand through his hair in frustration. Thankful for the _Muffliato_ spell, Hermione started giggling. Had Harry not cast it, McGonagall would've taken away ten points from them immediately for disturbing the class' peace.

"What's so funny?" Harry glared at his best friend, who was struggling to hide her mirth.

"Oh, I don't know… now that I look at it, perhaps the rivalry between the both of you was just an excuse for you to hide behind, and now that you two aren't rivals anymore, you can't deny the attraction any longer," she said rather smugly, nodding at the blond in front of them.

Harry thanked the gods that Draco wasn't able to hear any of it, thanks to the Muffliato spell. If Draco knew, Harry would be in hot water.

"I DID IT!" Ron yelled suddenly, startling Harry and Hermione so much that they almost fell out of their seats. Ron's rat was finally a happily quacking duck, though it did try to nip Ron every time he tried to pat it. Hermione couldn't hold her laughter back and finally burst out laughing, at which the rest of the class joined in, but in good humor. Even Professor McGonagall smiled at Ron, and his face now matched the color of his hair, though he was grinning from ear to ear.

* * *

"Wait, Hermione. I just thought of something," Harry said when they were tucking into dinner. Ron was listening this time, and Hermione had already brought him up to date on everything, even revealing that the reason why Harry was bisexual was actually Malfoy. To Harry's approval, Ron's reaction was almost a mirror to his.

 _"Are you for real? Malfoy kissed you and you're attracted to him? If you weren't my best friend, I'd Avada Kedavra you myself!" Ron had moaned, clutching his heart as if he were in severe pain._

 _"Stop being such a drama king, Ron!" Hermione had said, laughing but still hitting him for his exaggerated reaction._

 _"I dunno, Hermione… I'm pretty tempted to take up Ron's offer myself," Harry had joked._

And now they were here, talking about the possibilities during dinner. Ron had graciously offered to change sides of the table with Harry so that he wouldn't have to see Draco's face - Harry accepted the offer gratefully.

"So what did you think of, Harry?" Hermione asked, snapping her fingers in front of his face to get his attention back to them.

"Oh, yeah. If Draco has a part of my magic, why don't I have a part of his? Not that I want it," he added hurriedly at the end. Hermione gave him a suspicious look while Ron made a face with his mouth full of cranberry pie.

"If what you told us about the kiss is true… I think it's because you don't want to accept him. I mean, he initiated it right? He wants you, and he's accepted you, thus your magic went to him willingly. I'm guessing that you've rejected his magic and that's why you don't have it," she speculated.

"Well, that makes sense. Dad always said that magic is at its most powerful when infused with emotions, and that magic can be given away, though the receiver has to accept it, if not the magic won't manifest," Ron shrugged, finally swallowing his pie. Harry stared at his friends incredulously - the world of magic never ceased to amaze him. Even when the first time Hagrid had told him he was a wizard - _yer a wizard, Harry!_ \- the wizarding world with its secrets and magic had always fascinated him and drove him to learn more about it.

"Well, I can just leave it as it is, right?" Harry asked, not really liking the idea of a part of his magic belonging to Draco. It felt a little too… intimate. Ron shook his head in despair.

"No, mate. It has to be a mutual exchange of magic, if not Malfoy will constantly have power over you because your magic will allow him to become more powerful as he siphons from you. If you can get a hold of his spark," at which Ron shuddered before he continued, "then the power exchange will be balanced. Oh, and I've heard that the spark allows the bonded to know wherever their partners are."

Harry face-palmed himself as he realized how Draco was always in his line of sight even when he took special care to avoid Slytherin infested hallways. _He knows where I am, all the time. Well, two can play at this game,_ Harry thought determinedly, resolving to take his Marauder's Map with him wherever he went.

"Anything else I should know about?" Harry demanded to his two friends. They looked at each other, and Ron cleared his throat uncomfortably before he spoke.

 _"You're bonded to Draco forever, Harry. If you try to retract your magic from him and vice versa, you'll both die."_

Harry felt himself go pale at the revelation.


	6. Sparking A Fire

Sorry for the slow updates! School is starting to get busy, and I was stuck with some writer's block... so to compensate for that, this document is about double the usual chapter length. Enjoy! ;)

* * *

Today was the day of a big game - Slytherin versus Gryffindor, locked in a clash that would eventually lead to winning the House Cup. Both Houses had their points tied down to the last one, and this would settle the argument between them… until the next match. The rain was relentless, crashing down onto the pitch heavily. Harry already had Hermione _Impervius_ his glasses, so he could see in the downpour.

Harry glanced across the pitch where Draco Malfoy stood with his team, briefing them. Ron nudged him to get his attention. "Hey, don't be too distracted, Harry. The spark will only let him know where you are, and you're on the same pitch as he is. It won't give him an extra edge over you," Ron said, trying to reassure Harry.

He nodded distractedly, fiddling with his broom handle, dreading yet eagerly awaiting the match's beginning. Harry wasn't sure how Draco was going to play. _Is he going to play dirty?_ At that thought, the word _dirty_ brought up a very different image in his mind - Draco kissing him, that smirk of his...

Shaking his head and taking one last glance at his team - Fred and George, Ginny, Ron, Dean and Demelza, they waited for Madam Hooch's whistle to blow before they kicked off into the air in their formations.

"And there they are! The Gryffindors in their scarlet robes, looking as majestic as ever in their formation…" Seamus commentated from below them, eliciting cheers from the raincoat-clad Gryffindors. Ron waved at Hermione, who waved back excitedly at him from the stands.

When the Gryffindors were in place, hovering over the pitch, the Slytherins flew out, their emerald robes rippling in the wind. Cheers from the Slytherins matched the Gryffindors in volume.

"The Slytherins fly out onto the pitch, and they're not afraid of the rain, no! Malfoy leads the team on a grand display of new formations!" They sped around the pitch in a green blur, their formations just as impressive as Gryffindor's, before they stopped right in front of them, the teams' respective players facing one another.

"Captains, shake hands!" Madam Hooch yelled over the storm, the rumbling thunder almost drowning out her yell. Draco faced Harry, and cocked his head slightly to the side, as if studying him. He extended a gloved hand to the Gryffindor seeker, and Harry shook it in a tight grip. Then without warning, Draco yanked him forward so that Harry's ear was right beside his mouth.

If Harry wasn't such a proficient flier, he would've fallen right off his broom. Beside him, Ginny cried out in fear for Harry's safety. "Come to the Slytherin dungeon tonight, Potter. Pansy wants to talk to you. The password is Salazar," Malfoy whispered, before pushing Harry backwards, so they separated.

Down at the stands, McGonagall was already bristling with anger while the Gryffindors roared for a penalty. "Malfoy shoves Harry backwards, but the game hasn't started so there can't be a penalty yet!" Seamus cried, eliciting more roars of displeasure from the red stands.

Madam Hooch unlocked the box and as the snitch took off into the air, a whistle rang out and the two teams immediately spread out, ready to play. Harry spun circles around the pitch, while Malfoy followed close by. The rest of the teams were trying their best to fly in the rain, but the wind was making it hard.

Urquhart streaked across the pitch in possession of the Quaffle. "Urquhart has the Quaffle and he aims it at the ring - but Ron saves it!" The Gryffindors broke out in song, singing ' _Weasley is Our King',_ which only made Ron play better. Demelza, Dean and Ginny were doing very well; scoring once every few minutes.

"We're 20 minutes in and Gryffindor is up 80-60!" Seamus yelled, and the Slytherins booed from their seats. McGonagall clapped her hands in happiness, beyond excited to see the Gryffindors winning. Draco still saw no sign of the golden snitch, and the game only got more intense.

Then the Slytherins started playing dirty. Ginny almost got elbowed off her broom by Zabini - she shoved back, and darted away on her broom with the Quaffle still in her possession. Fred managed to hit a bludger into Vaisey, and the boy almost fell to earth had Urquhart not caught him by the collar and dropped him gently onto the pitch.

"Vaisey is out, but the game goes on! Oh, Harry's speeding up! Has he spotted the Snitch?" Seamus said excitedly as Harry indeed started to speed up, heading towards the Slytherin stands where he saw the Snitch fluttering about.

Lightning flashed, and the Snitch took off upwards into the dark sky. Harry followed suit, and rode his broom harder than he ever had. Malfoy took after him quickly, trying to catch up. "Harry is speeding straight into the clouds, his hand outstretched… will he get the snitch?" Seamus' excitement reverberated through the stands; even the Slytherins were anxious to see him disappear into the ominous sky.

Draco disappeared into the clouds right behind Harry, and the crowds saw no more of them. Harry's hand finally closed over the Snitch, but a lightning strike set the end of his broom on fire, and he started to spiral downwards uncontrollably. Trying to at least slow down, Harry jerked on his broom handle, but to no avail. He was dropping at an alarming speed.

He burst through the clouds with his broom on fire, and everyone watching yelled, pointing at Harry. Hermione immediately stood up, ready to run down to the pitch, but paused when Draco burst through the clouds, heading straight for the falling Gryffindor.

"Harry!" Draco yelled, reaching his hand out to the boy. Harry tried to reach it with his empty hand - but missed it by a few seconds. He was about to hit the ground, and as his vision started winking in and out, his eyes started to close… with the last image he saw being Malfoy.

Draco knew the moment that Harry had passed out because the spark started to fade in brightness, and he pushed his broom to the limit, managing to grab the unconscious Harry by his collar, and let go of his failing broom when they were close enough to the ground, both of them falling onto the mud soaked pitch beneath them.

Madam Hooch came by and immediately announced the end of the game. "Gryffindor wins, 230 points!" She announced, raising the unconscious Harry's hand to the hearty cheers of the Gryffindors. She took the snitch out of his grasp and he was immediately carted off to the Hospital Wing along with Draco, who had suffered broken ribs from crashing into the ground. He winced at the thought of what Harry could've possibly broken, but soon the pain became all too overwhelming and he too, passed out.

* * *

Outside the infirmary, Pansy Parkinson and Hermione Granger stood together, and for the first time, it wasn't because they were throwing insults or glaring their dislike for each other. Their heads were close together, discussing something.

"Look, Pansy… something funny is happening, and I don't like it," Hermione said, her voice suspicious.

"What, you think we Slytherins are up to something?" Pansy raised an eyebrow haughtily, though feeling slightly hurt at what she thought was an insult.

Now amused, Hermione shook her head in exasperation. "No, Pansy. Draco is bonded to Harry now, through their magic. I don't know what will happen, so you have to keep a lookout for Draco since you're his best friend."

"Wait - what? Bonded?" Pansy's eyes widened in surprise. "Bonded as in, sex crazed bonded or?"

Hermione spluttered and blushed at Pansy's direct statement. "No, at least I don't think so. I can't find enough information on it, but judging by the unexplored sexual tension between the two, I think sex is pretty inevitable," she whispered, feeling a little mortified. Slytherins were direct if not anything.

"Well, they'd better get it on soon. Draco with his pent up sexual frustration is seriously annoying," Pansy said, buffing her nails against her robes. "Everyday he stares over at Harry, obviously wanting a piece of him, yet he parks his arse right on the chair and does nothing. He's an imbecile, if you ask me," she said, looking Hermione right in the eye.

Hermione smiled at that. "That I can agree on." The two headed towards the Great Hall together, bonding over their discussion of Draco and Harry as two unlikely friends.

* * *

Harry awoke to find himself in the dark. He reached blindly to the table next to his for his glasses and put them on. His wand was there as well, and he took it, whispering _Lumos_. His wand tip lit up and he saw a note that lay on the table, as well as a couple of chocolate frogs.

" _Dear Harry,_

 _Professor Lupin sends his regards, as does Sirius. They both agreed that you would be more than fine in Madam Pomfrey's hands, but they still wanted to send you some Chocolate Frogs because they said that chocolate makes everything better. Ron agrees._

 _If you don't remember what happened, you won the match for Gryffindor by catching the Snitch, but your broom caught fire and you fell out of the sky. You could've died, had Malfoy not chased after you and saved you by the skin of your teeth. He probably took the brunt of the fall when you both crashed into the pitch; he had a few broken ribs, while you only sustained some cuts and bruises.  
_

 _We've saved your homework for you, and Ron says he's kept some bacon strips from dinner in case you wanted some, but I highly doubt you'll find it when you return back to Gryffindor Tower. Pansy says that you should get into Draco's pants soon, because he's 'being an unbearable git' when he's away from you. And that she'll talk to you when you're feeling better.  
_

 _Wishing you a speedy recovery!_

 _Love,_

 _Ron, Hermione and Pansy  
_

Harry smiled at the note and extinguished the wandlight - his godfather and professor always believed that chocolate was a universal cure. He also imagined Ron's protest to Hermione as she wrote this letter about the bacon that he might have saved Harry. Pansy's comment though, was another story. Chuckling to himself, Harry regretted it immediately when his bruises started to hurt.

"Okay, no laughing," he muttered to himself as he folded the letter and drew the curtains open to see a sleeping Draco Malfoy on the next bed. He had a big plaster on his forehead, and he was shirtless, with bandages around his ribcage. Harry winced at the image, and walked over to sit on Draco's bed.

The spark was resting on the pillow, but started flying around excitedly when it sensed Harry. Amused, Harry let it fly a few circles around his head before it returned to resting on Draco's pillow. "No, don't…" Draco murmured in his sleep, frowning. Harry didn't like for him to frown, so he reached out and rubbed the pad of his thumb against the blond's eyebrows, smoothing them out.

Draco remained asleep, his facial expression now a peaceful one. Harry's heart stuttered uncomfortably at the thought of Draco being injured because of him. _He took the fall for me._ Anger gripped Harry tightly - anger at himself, for putting someone else in danger because of him.

"No one will ever die or get injured because of me again," Harry whispered to himself, gently sweeping Draco's hair away from his closed eyes.

Draco was in Malfoy Manor, and his arm throbbed unbearably. He ripped the sleeve back to see once again his Dark Mark there, pulsating and moving, as though it were angry. A sharp stab of pain seared through his skull, and he fell to his knees in pain.

"Draco, child. Give me Harry Potter, and you will be safe…" a sinister voice whispered, soft but distinguishable even through the howling winds. "Never!" Draco yelled, and he received a swift kick to the ribs. He groaned in pain, falling backwards onto the ground.

"You _are_ a pathetic weakling. Now give me Potter, or you will SUFFER!" The voice had risen to a scream at the end, and a flash of green light blinded him - until he opened his eyes to see that there were a pair of green eyes staring right at him.

"Draco!" Harry said, holding the trembling boy in his arms. "What's wrong? What happened?"

Gasping and still shocked from the dream, Draco attempted to sit up, but groaned as his ribs protested in pain. "Water, please," he mumbled, slowly pulling himself into a sitting position. Harry complied, conjuring up a glass of water for him. He drank greedily, trying to soothe his parched throat.

"What was that about?" Harry asked, when Draco had finished drinking. "I had a nightmare - it's nothing much," Draco said a little hoarsely, his voice still strained from having a dry throat. Harry refilled the glass, and he drank from it gratefully.

"I used to have dreams - nightmares about Voldemort. Talking about it will make you feel better," Harry said quietly, watching the boy in front of him. The adrenaline from the dream was already slowly draining out of him, but he felt dread settle into the pit of his stomach. If someone wanted Harry through him, then he was going to have to be more careful.

"It's nothing, really. And if I get to wake up to you, nightmares don't seem that bad," Draco said, trying to dredge up some humor as Harry awkwardly adjusted Draco's pillows, though he was still looking at him.

"Thanks, Draco. I owe you one." Looking at the bandages around Draco's midriff, Harry couldn't help but feel bad about it.

"I know that look on your face. Don't," Draco warned, trying to move towards him. Harry immediately pushed him back onto the bed, making him rest against the soft pillows.

"What look?" Harry said evasively, picking up his wand and playing with it. "That look where you think that it's your fault that I'm now in this hospital bed," he replied in a dry tone. Indignant, Harry immediately looked back up at him.

"It is my fault - " Harry started, but stopped when he saw the anger in Draco's eyes. "No. I made the choice to save you, Harry. If I didn't, you might have ended up severely injured or dead on the pitch!" he said angrily. "But I didn't ask for you to save me! I would rather die than let anyone else die for me again," Harry snapped back.

Draco's eyes softened, and the anger dissipated. "Yes, I know. But you have to understand that there are people who care for you, and want to protect you, even if it will cost them their lives. Your parents are proof of that, Harry." _I am proof of that._

Harry didn't say anything for a long while. He just sat there, staring at Draco's face. Taking his time to remember every detail about his face - the proud tilt of his chin, the way his blond hair fell messily into his eyes - the person that he had once hated, now… something more than just acquaintances.

"Thank you for saving my life then," Harry said quietly. He was honestly quite tired of pulling himself away from this insane attraction that drew him to Draco Malfoy. It called to him, almost every night when he was lying in bed, and imagined the things that Draco would to to him - the things that he wanted to do to Draco.

Slowly, Draco could feel the magic emanating from Harry and meeting his own - it was consuming, slowly wrapping the two of them in a warm cocoon.

"Will you stop resisting me?" Draco whispered, already leaning in, face to face with Harry. His green eyes burned with desire. "Just for tonight," he whispered in return.

Harry leaned in, and pressed his lips to Draco's. A delicious kind of warmth streaked down his back, quickly spreading through his body, eventually reaching his fingertips. Harry's hand inched his way down Draco's neck and onto his chest, where the scars resided and started to touch them gently. Draco felt like Harry's hand was branding him with his mark, searing it into his chest.

"Harder, Harry. Don't treat me like I'm a fragile work of art," Draco muttered against Harry's lips, biting down hard. Harry moaned, and pressed Draco harder into the pillows, their lips still locked together. If he wanted to take his frustrations out this way, Draco had no objections. Harry's tongue slowly traced the line of his lips, before he dove back in for another taste of peppermint and firewhiskey.

Lacing his fingers into Draco's hair, Harry yanked his head backwards as he started to make his way down to his chest, leaving a trail of kisses where his mouth had been. Draco whimpered in pleasure as Harry left his marks on him with his talented mouth. "I've never tasted anything more delicious than you," Harry said against Draco's skin before closing his mouth around his nipple, eliciting a garbled cry of pleasure from the blond as Harry licked and laved at the sensitive nub.

He continued torturing Draco that way until he was yanked away, and found himself kissing the boy once again, their teeth clashing with the frustrations that ran through both of them - Harry's rejection of his own feelings, and Draco's wish for Harry to give in to his desires. Draco thought that if Harry were to leave his marks on him, then it would only be fair if he left his mark on the brunette as well.

Yanking Harry's shirt off, his hand inched down slowly from Harry's neck to his chest. His fingers traced a line across his chest until he reached Harry's nipple, and pinched hard, causing the boy to groan against his mouth. After torturing Harry as he had done to him - turnabout was fair play - Draco allowed his hand to drift further down, and Harry felt himself jerk in pleasure when the Slytherin touched him.

Just then, they heard footsteps and they quickly broke apart, still panting from the kiss. "Stop fighting what we have, Harry. It'll be easier," Draco whispered as Madam Pomfrey drew the curtains open.

"Oh, you're both awake; that's good. Let me check your injuries," she said, as she fussed over Harry and Draco. She found close to no trace of internal injuries for Draco - the ribs seemed to have mended themselves. She frowned and gave Draco a potion for reducing any leftover pain, which he gratefully accepted. _Too bad this potion won't get rid of the pain that's in my pants,_ Draco mused as he downed the sweet-tasting liquid.

As for Harry, all of his cuts had subsided, leaving only red lines that indicated anything had happened at all. There was no scarring. It was then that she noticed the bruises that marked both boys - fresh and already blooming, from their necks to their chests. She pretended not to notice, and asked them to return to their respective beds to rest. The smell of old, ancient magic lingered in the air. Once the two boys had drawn their curtains, she took out her wand.

" _Specialis Revelio."_ The spell burst upon hitting the air and two creatures emerged from the sparks - a green dragon and a flaming phoenix, both flying close to each other, intertwined before they faded away. It was old magic indeed. Had she not chanced upon an ancient spellbook looking for more healing spells, she would have had no idea what it was. Madam Pomfrey immediately left the infirmary to head towards the Headmaster's office.

"Lemon drops," she said to the gargoyle, and it melted away as the stairs behind it started moving into shape. As she stepped into the office, she saw Fawkes perched gracefully on his stand, his feathers still burning with eternal flame. He looked just like the phoenix that had burst from her spell.

"What can I do for you, Poppy?" Dumbledore stepped out from behind a pillar, walking down the stairs slowly.

"Albus, there is old magic in the school. Something that we haven't seen for almost a few thousand years," she said, a little in awe and fear. Dumbledore frowned as they both settled into their respective chairs.

"And what may that old magic be?" Blue eyes peered at her kindly over half-moon glasses.

"The _Scintilla Lascivio_ ," came a whisper.

A frown knitted Dumbledore's eyebrows together. "Who are the two?" he asked, already beginning to pull several books from his shelves. This bond was rare, and could usually can only be established by two very powerful wizards or witches, usually a couple, when they wanted to bind their lives together in a statement of eternal love.

"Harry Potter… and Draco Malfoy," she said, exhaling as if a huge burden had been lifted off her. To her surprise, Dumbledore chuckled.

"It is not that much of a shock to me, Poppy," he said by way of explanation when he saw the confused look on her face. "They are two very, very powerful wizards and they have always gravitated towards each other, though perhaps for the wrong reasons. Now that the war is over, it seems that they can't ignore it anymore," Dumbledore said, a small smile resting on his face.

"When I checked them, they were already healed - their injuries from Quidditch, completely gone!" The headmaster nodded in acknowledgement, and one of the books flew open, pages flipping until it came to a rest on page 527 of 'Ancient Magic Bonds'.

"Here it says, that the _Scintilla Lascivio_ bonds two people together, and binds both their lives into one. The magic that they wield will be one of the most powerful in the world, as they can share it, and push each other to their limits. But the interesting part is this. The bond is a positive force, so when both partners recognize each other, their magic will become capable of _healing_ during… intense moments, so to speak," Dumbledore explained, making a small, awkward cough at the last part.

Madam Pomfrey got the drift. "So… what's going to happen now?" she asked, her eyes wide as she slowly began to understand - the bruises, both of them on the same bed - and even why Draco Malfoy, known nemesis of Harry Potter, saved him during that stormy Quidditch match.

"I will have to move them into new rooms - they cannot be apart for too long, if not the bond will turn them into aggressive and crazed creatures. Of course, they will sleep separately so as to not arouse suspicion - but the rooms will be joined by magic." Dumbledore stood up, walked across the room, and invited Madam Pomfrey to leave with him.

"Let us be on our way, Poppy. I could use some help with the enchantments," Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling. Blushing shyly, Madam Pomfrey followed the Headmaster on his way out.

* * *

As much as Harry tried to go to sleep, he couldn't stop tossing and turning. He sat up, and decided to move over to Draco's bed - if he was already doomed to live a life with Malfoy in it, then he might as well start practicing. _But it's not like you really dread it anyways._ Harry decided that if he could ever hex his subconscious for these thoughts, he would. As he got onto the bed, a surprised Draco opened his eyes sleepily.

Without saying another word, the blond threw out an arm around him, and pulled him close. Harry didn't protest, and within minutes both were asleep, smiles on their faces. A green spark appeared, very dimly at first. It slowly increased in brightness, until it could compare to the red spark that it was resting next to. The bond was now complete.


	7. Stuck In Denial

Sorry for the slow updates. I've been busy with things, and exams are coming soon.

Thanks for all the reviews! Enjoy :)

* * *

Harry was not pleased. "What do you mean I have to change rooms, Professor?" He was standing in Professor McGonagall's office, protesting against his new sleeping arrangements.

"It was a direct order from Dumbledore, Harry. Would you like to take this matter up with him instead?" McGonagall said with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, I mean… do you know why, at least?" Harry asked, finally accepting it as a fact. He wasn't really fancying the thought of having to leave his dorm mates — especially Ron, whose company he enjoyed immensely on sleepless nights.

"No, Harry. Dumbledore didn't exactly tell me why, though I know that the only person that can open the door to your room is you. You're going to have to leave an imprint of your magic on the door, at least, that's what he said," Professor McGonagall answered.

"And how am I supposed to do that?" Harry had never felt more confused. "Dumbledore says that once you see the door, you will know. Good day, Harry." He took it as he was dismissed, and left. His new room was still in Gryffindor Tower, and only a few steps away from his old room.

 _Not as bad as you think it is, Harry._ Or at least, that's what he tried to tell himself. Climbing up the stairs, he passed by a disgruntled Ron, who seemed to have gotten the memo as well.

"Why'd you have to change rooms, mate? It's our last year in school together too!" Ron sounded just as unhappy as Harry felt, and this lifted up his mood considerably.

"Well, at least I'm not too far away from you if I can't sleep at night," Harry said, trying to cheer Ron up. His best friend's support meant the world to him.

"True that. You coming for breakfast?" Ron asked, motioning towards the common room below them, where Gryffindor students were already heading for their meal at the Great Hall.

"I'll pass, see you in Potions. Dobby will get me some food." Ron nodded in acknowledgement and left to find Hermione.

When Harry reached the door, it surprised him. The ornate wooden door had his name carved into it, and above it, a dragon. And it was then that the door started carving words into itself. _Welcome, Harry. Use your spark to mark the dragon to prove that it is you._ It disappeared after a few seconds. Harry looked at the green spark floating next to his shoulder, and as if in acknowledgement, the spark flew to the dragon carving, and disappeared through it.

The dragon lit up with a brilliant green glow, and the door swung open soundlessly. The spark returned to his shoulder. He entered the room - it felt just like his old dorm, just missing four other beds. His things were there, and Hedwig was perched on his new cabinet, looking at him.

"Hedwig!" Harry was delighted to see her - she had been off delivering a letter to Sirius for him. The snowy white owl flew to his shoulder and stuck her leg out, giving him his godfather's response. She nibbled affectionately on Harry's ear as he unrolled the parchment.

—

 _Hello, Harry._

 _I'm glad you're feeling better from the fall - I guess Draco isn't as heartless as we thought he'd be. How's he doing, incidentally? Heard he broke his ribs while you merely suffered scratches._

 _And what's this about a bond? Does Dumbledore know? You should talk to him about it - I'm sure he would know what's going on._

 _Keep me posted. Oh, I almost forgot to tell you - Lupin is returning as the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. Just thought you'd like to know._

 _Sirius_

Harry smiled at the concern in Sirius' voice, and decided to reply at a later date. Hedwig looked quite worse for wear and he let her fly off to the Owlery to rest. He looked around the room, deciding to unpack his Potions stuff before class… and noticed something peculiar. There was a tapestry in his room, and he went to move it aside.

He found a door. Interestingly, it didn't just have a dragon. It had a phoenix and a dragon, both intertwined, but only the dragon was lit with a green glow. Just as he put his hand on the doorknob, the phoenix shone brilliantly with a red light, completing the outline of both creatures, and the door unlocked itself.

Harry took out his wand and braced himself.

* * *

Draco Malfoy was beyond pleased to hear that the Headmaster was giving him a room of his own, though his godfather was still feeling a little suspicious, especially from what he managed to overhear from McGonagall in the office. Potter had his own room as well, and he suspected that Draco getting his own room was related to that, though he couldn't prove anything.

"Be careful, Draco. I don't know why the Headmaster insisted on giving you a room of your own, but you should be on alert," Snape warned.

Draco nodded, but wasn't really too afraid or scared - he wanted to check out his new room immediately.

"By the way, Dumbledore said that you should mark the door with your magic, so it would know that it's you," Snape said, before Draco left his office.

"How am I supposed to do that?" Confusion ran through Draco at that particular comment. Snape just shrugged, as if to say ' _you'll figure it out'._

He immediately headed back towards the dungeons. When he reached the door of his room, a phoenix was carved into it, and below it a message to him.

 _Welcome, Draco. Use your spark to mark the phoenix for identification._

The message disappeared within a few seconds. The red spark on his shoulder moved and disappeared through the phoenix to the other side of the door.

A bright red glow emanated from the phoenix and the door swung open of its own accord. Draco stepped in, and the spark floated back to him. _I could get used to this,_ he mused as he took in the emerald wallpaper. It wasn't much different from his old room, but he preferred to have more privacy. Besides, not having Blaise in the same room was a perk - he was always snooping through people's things, though Draco's anti-theft charm on his belongings did help quite a bit.

Draco's spark started to flutter wildly, and it disappeared behind a tapestry. Frowning, Draco drew out his wand. " _Diffindo,"_ he murmured, and the tapestry severed, dropping into a heap on the floor. There was a door there, and on it, an ornate carving of a phoenix and dragon, intertwined together. The dragon was lit up with a shining green, while the phoenix was unlit, until his spark went near it.

The phoenix lit up with a bright red glow, the lines filling up beautifully. A click sounded, and the door unlocked itself. It swung open, and two voices rang out in unison.

" _Expelliarmus!_ " both Harry and Draco cried, both wands flying out of their hands and landing behind them.

"Draco?" Harry asked, a confused look on his face. "But I'm in Gryffindor Tower… and you're in the Slytherin Dungeon!" The blond just shrugged at him, obviously not as bothered.

"Obviously our rooms are joined by magic, Harry. There's no direct way from Slytherin's dungeon to your tower," Draco said nonchalantly, picking up his wand. Oh, it was nice to be able to talk to Harry again. The boy had been avoiding him for weeks.

"Well, come in. It's rude to lurk in doorways," Draco said, waving his hand impatiently. Harry stepped in, and the door behind him closed shut immediately. " _Reparo,_ " he said and the tapestry weaved itself back together.

"Any idea why we've got interconnected rooms now?" Harry asked, picking up his Potions textbook from the floor. Draco cocked his head to one side, studying him.

"I quite like you kneeling on the floor, Harry. It does give off sort of a submissive feeling," he said, smirking and Harry scrambled to his feet, a blush staining his cheeks.

"To answer your question, no. I don't know why Dumbledore gave us interconnected rooms," Draco answered when Harry turned those questioning green eyes on him. "And no, I didn't ask for this. I don't think the Headmaster would have allowed for it had I asked prior to this event, though you are quite a tempting morsel."

Harry felt his cheeks burn, partly with embarrassment, and partly with desire. What was it that always gave Draco Malfoy the upper hand with him? Suddenly, Dobby appeared with a loud _crack_ and startled both the boys, causing Harry to drop his Potions textbook again.

"Harry Potter, Sir!" Dobby squeaked and curtseyed. He handed Harry his breakfast, much to his surprise. "Dobby, how did you know to bring me breakfast? I didn't call for you to," Harry said, grateful but a little confused. He was pretty sure Dobby couldn't read minds… right?

"Dobby bumped into your friend Wheezy outside a corridor! He was running off with Miss Granger, but he stopped to speak to Dobby and asked Dobby to bring you breakfast!" Draco chuckled from behind Dobby, and the house-elf turned around, saw the blond with wide eyes and bowed so low that Percy Weasley would be proud of him.

"M-Master Malfoy! Dobby didn't know you was here," the house-elf said nervously, edging away towards Harry. "It's okay, Dobby. It's nice seeing you too," the blond replied dryly, though he was quite amused with how his former house-elf interacted with Harry.

"Dobby, can you send us to the dungeons? We're running late for Potions," Harry said urgently as he started on his treacle tarts and finished it in record time. Dobby shook his head. "Dobby has orders from Professor Dumbledore that both Harry Potter and Master Malfoy must meet him in his office now! Professor Dumbledore says that the password to his office is 'chocolate frogs'!" With another impressively low bow, Dobby disappeared, another loud _crack_ sounding out across the room.

"Well, are we leaving through your dormitory room, or mine?" Draco asked, raising his eyebrows at Harry rather suggestively.

"Er, I think we should leave through our respective dormitories. Meet you there," Harry said, and before Draco could protest, the brunette was gone. Trying to not let his disappointment affect him, Draco left for Dumbledore's office.

* * *

"What do you mean we can't be apart for too long?" Harry demanded, looking at his mentor as blue eyes stared back calmly. Draco was lounging on one of the two chairs that Dumbledore had provided the both of them, while Harry stood, refusing to sit down.

"Sit down, Harry." Dumbledore's firm voice made Harry comply meekly. He was also beginning to feel a little bad for being rude to Dumbledore - after all, he was the Headmaster of the school, and still held authority over him.

"What I am about to explain to you may be a bit shocking, but please try not to interrupt me. Both of you have a bond, and it is called the _Scintilla Lascivio_. It is old magic - in fact, the wizarding world has not seen it in almost a thousand years. The bond essentially ties your lives together," Dumbledore said, pausing when he saw the look of alarm on Harry's face.

"No, Harry. It is not like a Horcrux," Dumbledore explained kindly, and Harry exhaled in relief. "The bond is usually a statement that two people do, usually in marriage to declare that they are one. It can only be accomplished by very powerful witches and wizards, or two people that are irrevocably in love."

"But we're not in love," Harry protested, while Draco remained expressionless in his chair. Dumbledore did not answer to Harry's protest, and continued with his explanation. "This bond requires both partners to be intimate regularly, so as to sustain it. There is no destroying the link between the two of you, even in death. That is why I gave you both rooms separate from your usual dormitories, yet are still linked."

That did answer some of Harry's questions, but not all. "What happens if we… don't meet the requirements for regular intimacy?" he asked, with a feeling that he wouldn't like the answer. Dumbledore's response terrified him.

"Both of you will turn into feral, snarling creatures incapable of consciousness until you fulfill the required act of intimacy." Harry closed his eyes and slumped in his chair, feeling resigned and forced into something that, once again, he did not want.

"But there is good news amongst all of these things," Dumbledore continued, more gently than before. "Since both of you are bonded, you have a piece of each other's magic. This means that you can gain access to each other's reserves and strength when needed, thus upping any threshold that is on your abilities. But be warned, this takes up a lot of energy and both partners will require a lot of rest afterwards, so it is not recommended that you use it unless you are in dire situations."

Harry wasn't really interested - he just wanted out of this bond, which wasn't happening anytime soon. Then, Draco spoke up for the first time. Harry opened one eye slightly to look at the blond.

"Professor, I was wondering why you made us imbue our magic into the doors of the rooms," he asked, quietly. Dumbledore chuckled, and looked at Draco with light shining in his cerulean eyes.

"I was wondering when you'd ask. You see, even though the bond does more good than bad, I am quite worried that if people find out, they might use it against you both. Kill one, and the other dies as well. I figured that it's better to be safe than sorry, so the only ones that can access your rooms are the both of you. Of course, you can bring in friends and such, but the only ones that can unlock said doors are sitting here, in front of me."

Harry didn't think of that, and he immediately sat up straight with the sobering thought. Draco however, seemed quite satisfied with those answers.

"If I may, Professor, can we leave for Potions now? And can we have a slip for Professor Snape to verify our short absence from class?" Draco asked, standing up. With a flick of his wand, Dumbledore conjured up a wax sealed piece of parchment and handed it to Draco. After both of them bid the Headmaster goodbye, they left for the dungeons immediately.

"Why didn't you ask more questions, Draco?" Harry asked, immediately demanding answers.

"It so happens that I know more than you do about this bond, Harry. I wrote to my mother, and she responded immediately with whatever that she knew. The library in Malfoy Manor is rather impressive," he said, feeling quite smug at the fact that he knew more than Harry did before their short encounter with Dumbledore.

"What? Why didn't you tell me?" Harry demanded, outraged that Draco would have withheld such crucial information from him.

"I would have, but it's quite a pity that you've been avoiding me for a few weeks since Madam Pomfrey discharged us from the hospital wing. You didn't ask either," Draco said dismissively, striding towards the Potions classroom. Harry increased his paces, walking briskly beside Draco.

"But you should've just told me anyways! I deserve to know!" Harry said, feeling quite hurt that Draco didn't deign to share the information with him.

"Kindly explain to me how I could have possibly approached you without you running away, or spitting in my face, which you have done on occasion in a bid to push me away from you? You also refused to read any letters I asked Balerion to send you," Draco snapped, his temper rising.

That stopped Harry in his tracks. Realizing Draco was right, he felt shame wash over him. "I'm sorry, Draco. You're right. I was just - I just didn't want to accept us being together as a fact. It's a lot to take in."

Draco paused and turned to look at Harry. The brunette stood there, his head hanging in sadness and shame, and that was all it took for Draco's anger to dissipate into nothing.

"Look, Harry. I know in some way you feel forced into this, and I'm sorry that you feel that way. But I'm not sorry about this bond, because it proves that I feel strongly for you, and you do too, underneath all that hatred that you usually show me. It'll be easier if you just accept it," he said, turning away.

Exhaling quietly, Draco felt his heart break a little at the thought that Harry didn't quite possibly return his feelings, and that the bond they had might've been nothing but an accident. He gripped the parchment tightly, crumpling the tender material in his hand.

"It's hard for me, Draco. But I'll try." The soft response from behind him renewed the tiny bit of hope inside of him - but he didn't respond, and walked into Potions, with Harry following behind him quietly.


	8. Not What It Seems To Be

Exams, exams! I hope the story is living up to your expectations, and I apologize for any mistakes that I might've made in writing.

* * *

The anticipated Hogsmeade weekend had finally arrived on Christmas Eve, and Harry was itching to get to Honeydukes for some overdue sweet shopping. Though he was hoping that Draco might've asked him, he was left disappointed when it was Pansy that he saw outside the Gryffindor common room. Ron and Hermione had already left. Harry agreed to meet them later, as Pansy wanted to talk to him before they departed. Both of them stood outside the portrait of the Fat Lady, who eyed Pansy with dislike.

"Pansy? What is it?" Harry said, trying his best not to be annoyed. She looked quite sheepish when she spoke. "Look, I know you're busy and all, and I haven't gotten to speak to you since you got discharged from the hospital, so I'll just get to the point. Can you help set me up with Longbottom?"

That took Harry by surprise. "You what? Neville?" For the first time in his life, he saw Pansy blush beet red, and that was quite amusing. "Well, he's gotten pretty hot when he came back for our seventh year," she explained, still looking very much like a cherry tomato.

"Don't you think that's a little shallow, Pansy?" Harry asked, a little exasperated, and also feeling like his friend was looking too much at the surface.

"No! It's not just that," she protested. "When he stood up against the Dark Lord… that was impressive. I'm quite sure that other girls are interested in him too -" Harry found his subconscious agreeing, after all that he managed to hear from the twitters in his own common room - "but since you're my friend, could you do me a favor and help me?" she finished, looking down at her feet in embarrassment.

This scenario feels awfully familiar, Harry mused, thinking about when he asked Draco to help him with Pansy. It came as a surprise, but he felt more relieved than sad that Pansy fancied some other bloke - that left him with less of a burden. Besides, he realized, _Pansy would do great for Neville's confidence. I'm not sure where he placed it, but I'm sure Pansy could find it for him._

"Yeah, Pansy. I'll help you if you want me to," he said, and she looked up, nodding at him gratefully. Just then, Neville came out of the portrait hole.

"Oh, um. I'll just, uh, be going," he said awkwardly, mistaking their conversation for a more intimate moment.

"No, Neville, wait!" Harry said, grabbing his friend by the arm. Neville stopped in his tracks, and turned back to face both of them. "Actually I'm about to leave, Hermione and Ron are waiting for me. Pansy doesn't have anyone to accompany her to Hogsmeade, would you do me a favour and go with her?" he said, rather hurriedly.

Surprise was etched all over Neville's face. "Well, uh, if you insist, Harry," he said with nervous pauses as he offered his arm to Pansy, who took it with a huge grin on her face. "Enjoy yourselves!" Harry said, and bolted off ahead of the two, who walked at a more leisurely pace.

Passing through Filch and his damned Secrecy Sensors, he burst into the cold and took a deep breath, feeling it calm the tempestuous feelings that had been brewing in him for the entire week. He didn't exactly know why, but his temper was getting worse. He snapped at a second year who walked too loudly, and broke the table he was supposed to Transfigure in class.

Adding on to his frustration, Draco avoided him whenever possible and kept their adjoining door locked by taking his magic away from it. Harry wanted to make amends to him, but the blond was resolutely keeping him at bay, and it was infuriating.

He adjusted his scarf and made his way to Honeydukes. Harry's face was starting to feel numb in the cold, and he was pretty sure that his nose had fallen off because of frostbite - he touched it to make sure it was still there. Along the way, he spotted someone familiar, standing not too far away. Draco was outside the Three Broomsticks with his mother, whom he was chatting with. After a few seconds, the two made their way into the pub.

No wonder Draco didn't mention anything about Hogsmeade, Harry realized. He had sort of been expecting Draco to ask him out for Hogsmeade weekend… _Then again, would you have said yes? He hasn't spoken to you ever since that day outside Potions._ Shaking the saddening thought out of his head, he opened the door to Honeydukes, welcoming the warmth and barely managed to squeeze his way in to find his friends.

Hermione was already chewing on a liquorice wand while Ron was still trying to look for more chocolate frogs amongst the shelves. "They're out!" he wailed miserably, while Hermione patted him on the back reassuringly, the liquorice wand hanging out of the side of her mouth.

"Hey guys," Harry grunted as he squeezed past a particularly fat lady. Ron turned watery eyes on him. "They're out of chocolate frogs! And I've been looking forward to having them for months!" Harry scrunched his face up in disappointment - he had also wanted some chocolate frogs.

"It's okay, Ron. Honeyduke's Best Chocolate isn't so bad as well," Harry said, and that brightened up Ron considerably. After paying for their purchases and maneuvering their way out of the store, Hermione was already panting. "I wish Honeydukes would expand their store - it's too crowded every time we come!"

Harry and Ron nodded their agreement. The three headed to Three Broomsticks, and settled down at a cozy table in one of the corners. From here, Harry could see Draco and his mother, chatting over a couple of drinks. "What would you like, Harry?" Hermione asked, about to leave to give Madam Rosmerta their orders.

"Uh, firewhiskey. With a dash of mint," he added, and she left. "Looking for a bit of festive cheer, eh? Mint and firewhiskey," Ron mused, popping a piece of chocolate into his mouth. Just then, Neville and Pansy entered as well, and they sat a few tables away. Harry noticed that Neville was smiling, and that Pansy was radiating happiness herself. She gave Harry a thumbs up when Neville left to buy drinks, and Harry returned the gesture.

"Blimey, since when have Parkinson and Neville started going out?" he asked, eyes wide when he saw Neville pass Pansy her drink. "About an hour ago," Harry replied, grinning as Hermione handed him his own drink.

"Didn't you say that you wanted to go after Parkinson?" Ron asked, still confused. "Don't be daft, Ron. He can't go out with anyone else now - he's bonded to Malfoy!" Hermione responded, drinking some of her butterbeer. Harry had explained the whole deal to them after he had found out from Dumbledore - leaving out the fact that their rooms were actually joined.

 _Ron's response had cracked him up. "You mean you've actually got to get down and dirty with Malfoy in bed? Mate, you have my condolences." Hermione though, didn't say anything, and merely smiled while they had their dinner._ Harry returned to the present when Ron responded to Hermione.

"Oh, yeah. I forgot," Ron said a little sheepishly, and drank the rest of his butterbeer. Harry downed the rest of his firewhiskey in one go as he saw Draco get up from his chair and kiss his mother on the cheek respectfully. As he walked past Harry, the blond's grey eyes met his, and Harry felt a strange burning at the bottom of his stomach.

He couldn't tell if it was the firewhiskey or desire, but with the taste of Draco in his mouth, Harry found that he wasn't quite able to think straight. All he could think of was jumping the blond, right here and now… Draco smirked at him, and left the pub. Hermione had to snap her fingers in front of Harry's face several times to get his attention.

"Merlin's beard, Harry. What's gotten into you?" Hermione asked, looking a bit disturbed by Harry's apparent space out. "I'm fine - I think the firewhiskey might've been a bit strong for me today," he said lamely, and Ron chortled at that. "Must be a bad day for you then, Harry. You love firewhiskey," he said, as they got up and left for school. Harry grunted moodily in response.

* * *

Draco felt the desire burning through him whenever he saw Harry - it was why he turned away, not wanting Harry to feel as if the bond that they had was forced upon him, and kept their adjoined door locked, so that Harry could have more privacy. He knew the source of his bad temper was their bond, what with it being unsatisfied, so he kept it inwards, trying his best not to lash out at anyone.

Today his mother was visiting him in Hogsmeade - in her letter she mentioned that she had something important to tell him, so he left a bit earlier, skipping breakfast. Narcissa greeted her son with a hug, and folded him into her arms.

"It's so good to see you again, Draco," she whispered, holding her precious son close. Draco closed his eyes and smiled, enjoying his mother's warmth around him. "It's good to see you too, mother. I've missed you," he said, and she smiled. When Narcissa smiled, she looked ethereal - her pale form and large, blue eyes made her a striking beauty. Draco had to give his father credit - his mother was beautiful.

They made their way into the Three Broomsticks, and sat down. They both ordered firewhiskey, and settled into the chairs. "Draco, I know that this may not be good news, but I still have to let you know. Your father has broken out of Azkaban," she whispered, not wanting others to overhear her.

Narcissa had to give her son credit - there was no change of expression on her son's face, but she could see the turmoil in his grey eyes, so alike to his father's. "When did this happen?" he asked, thinking back to his dream where someone had demanded for Harry Potter through him.

"It happened a month ago - the Ministry only let me know recently, as they failed to find your father after weeks of searching. In fact, I was the one who made them realize it, as I reported a break in to Malfoy Manor. You know that our house has wards, and only someone that is of our blood can access it."

The realization slowly dawned upon Draco. "So father broke into our house? Did he take anything?" Draco asked, frowning, trying to piece the happenings together. "He took some money, and the letter that you wrote me regarding the _Scintilla Lascivio_ bond."

Draco pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. "Mother, can you please let the Ministry know that father might be after Harry? I had a dream recently, and I think he was the one trying to get into my mind via Legilimency. He wanted Harry, and when I denied him, I think he tried to cast Avada Kedavra on me." His mother's eyes widened with fear.

"Yes, yes, I will." Narcissa's heart broke at the sight of her son, pale and tired with stress but still trying to protect the people he loved. And this time, his own father was the one going against him.

"Be careful, Draco. Your father is a powerful Dark wizard, regardless of his sanity. Write to me often, so I can stay updated," she said, cupping his cheek worriedly.

"Yes, mother, I will take extra care if I have to deal with father. You should take care as well, and remove father from the wards of Malfoy Manor," he reminded her.

Kissing her goodbye, Draco left. Narcissa watched as he and Harry Potter exchanged glances - the chemistry between them was undeniable, though she felt a tinge of darkness to it. She frowned, but remained in her seat and slowly drank her firewhiskey, observing how Harry's eyes followed her son out of the door.

* * *

After dinner, Harry had excused himself from the company of his two best friends, who obviously wanted some private time to themselves. Although midnight had already passed and it was Christmas Eve, Harry couldn't bring it in himself to feel the festive cheer. He missed Draco, and he could feel their magic turning his mood darker and darker. He got into bed and stared at the of his four-poster bed. There was an annoying itch below his skin that couldn't be scratched. Harry felt like he was slowly going mad.

It was cold outside, the snow building up against the windows, but all he felt was hot. He had stripped down to nothing, but he was still sweating profusely. Tossing and turning, he fell into an uncomfortable sleep with his eyes twitching every few seconds. The air shimmered thickly with magic, and Harry disappeared from his own bed.


	9. Succumbing To Pleasure

Oooh, delicious bed action. If you don't enjoy boy on boy, I suggest you leave or skip this chapter. Cheers!

P.S. I already have the next few chapters written, but am uploading them across the days.

Patience is a virtue ;)

* * *

Draco was lying in his own bed, the itching beneath his skin almost unbearable. He aware of their magic - it was slowly making him lose his sense of rationality, and he hated it. _All I want is Harry here, in this bed,_ he thought, and closed his eyes. Sighing and shucking all of his clothes off, Draco fluffed up his pillow in an effort to make himself more comfortable, and fell asleep after a long, long while.

The bond between them was slowly twisting and turning, causing the magic in their blood to crave each other - like drug addicts, awaiting their next hit. It heard Draco's desire, and it obeyed what they recognized as their owner's command.

It was like Apparating - but without the discomfort, as Harry reappeared into the mortal realm, on Draco's bed. His eyes opened, and he took in a gasping breath - the magic felt like it was choking the life right out of him. Next to him, Draco awoke, partly due to the noise and the roaring desire burning through his body. It had been too long since their last encounter - their magic was getting more volatile by the second.

"Draco," Harry cried out, unaware that he was now in his partner's bed. He reached out, brushing across cool sheets and Draco's bare skin, sending a shock through his body, which shivered and shuddered, burning hotter and hotter, until Draco pulled the brunette close to him, and slammed his mouth over his.

Immediately, the magic loosened and became relaxed, and the tight noose that seemed to suffocate both disappeared. It was then that Harry became conscious of his new surroundings - not that he really cared, especially when he had Draco pressed up against him, his soft lips kissing him hard enough to bruise him for days.

Draco swore that he'd never settle for anyone but Harry Potter in that moment - the boy kissed back him like he was starving and Draco was a lavish feast - greedily and with fervor. Draco moaned as their bodies rubbed together, the tiniest bit of friction sparking the flames between them to new heights.

"You finally came," Harry whispered as Draco kissed his neck. "If you mean _you_ came to my bed, then yes. But if you're talking about coming, then you haven't seen anything yet," the blond whispered as he moved south and bit down hard on Harry's nipple, causing him to shout out in pleasure.

Draco grabbed his wand from his nightstand and whispered, " _Incarcerous._ " Green silk ties wrapped around Harry's wrists, binding him to the bed. "W-what?" Harry asked, a little dazed from the desire that he was currently experiencing at Draco's hands.

"You know, I've always imagined you in my dreams like this… bound up and at my mercy, but nothing beats reality," Draco said as he moved down slowly, licking Harry's abdomen, burning streaks of fire across his body.

"If this is reality, then I don't want to ever dream again," Harry whispered. Draco wrapped his hand around Harry's cock, rubbing and teasing with his fingers. Harry felt as if the fire burning within him was going to consume him if he didn't manage to expel it soon.

"You belong to me, Harry Potter."

The snarled statement only drove Harry's desire up another notch - what was it about Draco that made him so hot? Before he could even think of the reason why, Draco's mouth closed around his length and all of his other thoughts disappeared. The heat that enveloped Harry was enough to drive him over the edge, but Draco kept him there, teetering but never letting him fall over.

Deciding to take his time, Draco swept his tongue over the soft tip, dragging out a garbled cry from the boy. He would savor this moment - the moment when Harry submitted to and was burning for him, and him only. He sucked and sucked, aligning his motions to when Harry moaned and whimpered in pleasure. Grey eyes stared at him with a slow, smouldering fire, and Harry couldn't seem to look away.

Gripping his restraints with bleached knuckles, Harry's body was already tensed and trembling with his approaching orgasm, and Draco took him into his mouth, sucking him fast and hard. His cock hardened to the point of pain, and when the tip hit the roof of Draco's mouth, the pleasure that mixed with the torture sent him over the edge, and he cried out the blond's name as he came, shuddering and jerking as waves of pleasure crashed into his body.

Draco licked his lips at the salty taste of Harry in his mouth, and watched as the brunette lay on the bed, spent and unmoving.

"Are you still going to resist me - resist what we so obviously have?" Draco asked, hoping that Harry's answer would be no. The brunette struggled to come up with an answer as his mind warred internally about it. _Why do I keep resisting it? What do I stand to gain from denying this bond that won't go away?_

Green met grey, and Harry gave his answer. "Maybe," Harry said, trying to avoid giving a direct answer to Draco, even though he knew the answer was no.

"What I want you to know, Potter… is that you are a terrible, terrible liar," he whispered, causing Harry to shiver. A thrill ran through him, making him feel… very dirty, in a sensual way. As if Draco calling him a liar meant that there was going to be punishment for it. And when he whispered his surname, it was… right. This time, Harry didn't mind.

"Release me," he demanded, wanting a piece of Draco as well.

" _Relashio,_ " Draco said with a flick of his wand, not realizing Harry's intent, and the silk ties disappeared from his wrists. "You do look quite good in green, I must say. Those ties on your wrists especially - very attractive," he continued, as Harry rubbed his wrists from where the bonds had chafed his skin a little. Draco thought that Harry looked extremely well-used, with his hair messy from thrashing about on the bed. He liked that. _A lot_.

A mischievous gleam shone bright in Harry's eyes, and before Draco could react, he was pushed backwards onto the bed. "Payback's a bitch, Malfoy," Harry smirked, deciding to take a page from Draco's book and without warning, his hands were bound together, though in a red silk tie. Harry's wandless magic wasn't something he used often, but in this case, he considered it a necessity.

Draco narrowed his eyes playfully at the brunette looming over him. "Red is not my colour, Potter. You should know that by now," he whispered, and Harry kissed him, effectively shutting him up. This time, Draco let Harry kiss him - it was gentler than before, though still demanding as ever.

He lowered his mouth to Draco's neck, licking and nipping on the skin there, and focused on where he could feel the constant thrum of the pulse, matching his own in a fiery tempo. Moving downwards, Harry focused on one of the scars marring Draco's pale chest, and licked it from start to end, causing the boy to whimper from below him.

Harry took his time, licking almost every single scar on Draco's chest, paying attention to them as if they were beautiful things to be appreciated. By the time he had reached the last scar, Draco was already moaning in pain - he stood at full staff.

"Potter, if you don't get on with it, I'm going to die," Draco groaned, his hands gripping Harry's hair, though awkwardly because his wrists were bound together.

Harry was beginning to feel a little bad for torturing the blond for so long, so he took Draco into his mouth, his tongue sweeping and brushing around and across Draco's hot length. There was a lot of unintelligible swearing from Draco - who knew he liked talking dirty in bed? - as Harry sucked him, his hands touching Draco everywhere, caressing his inner thighs and sac.

Gripping Harry's hair tightly, Draco thrust his hips as the brunette's mouth moved downwards - the synced movements were close to killing him, and he had Harry's name on his lips as he came. Harry swallowed, though it was quite an unpleasant taste - but the satisfied look on Draco's face was worth it.

"Well, Potter. For your first time, that's pretty good," Draco said hoarsely, still panting, and Harry released him from his bonds. Harry merely shrugged, though inwardly he was patting himself on the shoulder for a job well done. "Who said it was my first time?" Harry joked, and the possessive gleam that shone in Draco's eyes scared him a little.

"I was joking, Draco. Now we talk," Harry said, pulling up the blanket so that they were both lying down, face to face. "Talk about what? _My_ first time?" Draco asked, raising an eyebrow. He still felt a little disoriented from the blowjob that Harry just gave him - it was an amazing experience. He sort of wished that he had a pensieve to store that memory in.

"No, though we can save that for later. We're going to talk about why you've been avoiding me for the past weeks," Harry demanded. He looked into those grey eyes, and the way they were shining with happiness, and felt much, much better.

Their magic was pacified, and Harry felt all of his resentment and anger drain away. _Feels quite like the effects of a Horcrux, though it did take way longer to manifest, and way faster for it to leave,_ he realized. It took them almost a month before their magic took things into its own hands.

Draco snorted, drawing Harry's attention back to him. "I wasn't exactly avoiding you, Harry, I was trying to give you space."

"Space from what?" Harry asked, frowning. He didn't really understand, especially after he had told Draco that he would try to make them work.

"Space so that you wouldn't feel forced into this!" Draco exclaimed. "I thought that maybe if I gave you some space, you'd come to me willingly."

"Well, it happened. Sort of," Harry said dryly as he intertwined his hand with Draco's. "Our magic brought me here. Willingly," he added when Draco looked a little disappointed, and that brightened the blond's face again.

"Well, just so you know, this is the first time I've actually done anything in bed with anyone," Draco said, smirking and sliding a hand over Harry's bottom possessively. "That's funny, I thought I heard Astoria Greengrass boasting about having shagged you in Herbology a year ago," Harry said, pouting.

Draco rolled his eyes. "We merely kissed, and it wasn't even good. By then I knew that I wasn't really interested in girls, but I kissed her to double check anyways."

"Well, just so you know, you're a fantastic kisser. I just wish you'd have stopped locking our shared door so I could've made it up to you for being such a prat," Harry said, a little annoyed at Draco.

"Merlin's balls! So you mean I could've had you in my bed weeks ago? Just because of some miscommunication issues?" Draco growled as he realized the time that they had both wasted. Harry shrugged in response.

"Well, I guess it's time to make up for lost time," Draco offered with a smirk, and dove back in for another hot kiss from Harry. And he was right - Draco definitely made up for all the weeks that they missed out on.


	10. Bittersweet Memories

As it's the weekends, I couldn't help but upload this chapter early - TGIF!

Oooo, a fun chapter. And some interesting facts.

* * *

Draco found himself back in Malfoy Manor, but this time he was aware of what might happen, and had his wand at the ready. He wordlessly cast a Shield charm, putting a barrier between him and any possible jinxes and curses that might come his way.

"Show yourself," he called out into the darkness of his home, the candles all snuffed out. His wand tip lit up to illuminate the darkness. "Ah, Draco, my precious son. It seems that you already know of my escape," his father said, appearing out of the shadows.

Draco stood there, unmoving as he saw his father. He knew that this was a dream - before this, his father had tried to invade his mind through Legilimency, and Draco being an accomplished Occlumens, allowed the dream to happen - but on his own terms.

His father looked healthy, but Draco knew otherwise. He was the owner of the dream, so he could look past the glamour magic that masked Lucius' face. He looked tired, his face sunken and dull, not the way he usually looked - grand and majestic.

"Yes, I know. And you are aware of the bond that I have with Harry Potter. Do you think that I would willingly give him to you?" Draco asked, looking at his father with fire in his eyes. "It would be an honor for you to fulfill the Dark Lord's final wish - to kill that godforsaken boy!" Lucius snarled, raising his cane in anger. Draco finally realized the truth - his father had truly gone mad.

Lucius Malfoy was imprisoned after the war because he had declared his allegiance to the Dark Lord even after his death, trying to murder Harry, and swore that he would fulfill the Dark Lord's wishes of pure blood supremacy, while Narcissa and Draco were pardoned, because they had defected to Harry's side during the last moments of the war, and stayed there, protecting him.

The Ministry was still reluctant to kill a pure blood wizard, especially one who used to have a prominent place in their office, so they decided to send him to Azkaban for life imprisonment. Though it seemed that the Ministry wasn't very interested in keeping tabs on him - until now.

"Ah, father. You only know half the story," Draco said, smirking at Lucius, his head cocked as if studying the worn-down creature that his father had become. Lucius, who did not like being taken for a fool, casted the Imperius curse on Draco. Or at least, he tried to.

" _Imperio_!" Lucius said, and narrowed his eyes when the curse bounced off the shield. Draco felt his Shield charm waver for a moment - and warm magic flowed into him, strengthening it. He knew it was Harry's magic - he was one of the wizards who could cast an extremely powerful Shield charm, and Draco felt the power flowing through his body, especially in his wand arm.

 _This is amazing_ , he thought, feeling the magic that Harry could wield, and it was overwhelming, though in a good way. It was thick and warm, and seemed to wrap around him in a very protective manner. Lucius gave an ominous warning before he left.

"I will find you, Draco, and you will pay for not giving me Potter," he spat, before turning and disappearing into the shadows. The dream fell away after that, and Draco woke up at the same exact moment that Harry did, green eyes meeting the grey as they faced each other in their sleep.

"Good morning," Harry murmured, apparently unaware of the dream that Draco just had. _I guess I didn't use much magic - and even that little bit was scarily strong,_ he realized, looking at Harry, who gazed back at him sleepily, content from last night's events in bed.

"A good morning indeed," Draco whispered back, pulling Harry in for an early morning kiss, and relished in the fact that he was alive and well, and that he could wake up to Harry's green eyes and inky black hair.

Draco swore to himself that he would do anything to keep this boy safe - not because of their bond, but because he was terrified of a world without Harry Potter, even if he would die along with him. The wizarding world was only starting to rebuild itself - and if they lost their Golden Boy to a follower of the Dark Lord after the war, everything would come crumbling down again.

Draco kissed Harry with an urgency that wasn't there last night, but before he could ask why, Draco gripped his length in those slender fingers, and Harry forgot all about his questions as desire overwhelmed him again.

* * *

Harry was extremely grateful for the cold weather, as it gave him an excuse to wear a scarf. It was a win-win situation, really. His neck and chest was covered in marks from Draco, and he didn't want the rest of the school to know that his boyfriend was a freak in bed with him, and that he was actually dating Draco Malfoy. Sure, their best buds already knew, but he doubted that the rest of the school would be as accommodating as their closest friends.

He had taken one of Draco's emerald scarves, and it was now slung comfortably around his neck. Harry took pleasure in being able to take in his partner's scent anytime he wanted, and Draco had one of his too. They were both wrapped up like dumplings, trying to avoid as much of the cold as they could.

He had to admit that it was easier to hang out with the Slytherins, now that Pansy and Neville were going out. Draco, Pansy and Neville became a regular addition to the usual trio, and they enjoyed the occasional meal at the Gryffindor table together.

One day, the boys were hanging outside near the semi-frozen lake while waiting for Pansy and Hermione to join them. Ron started the conversation. "Oi, Neville," Ron said, trying to catch Neville's attention. The boy was still trying to hold on to Trevor - the frog seemed intent on escaping his clutches.

"Yes?" Neville responded distractedly, still trying to grab onto the frog. "For Merlin's sake, Longbottom," Draco said exasperatedly, and pulled out his wand. " _Accio_ frog!"

Trevor zoomed into Draco's hand, and the blond conjured up a tank, which he put Trevor into. The tank was filled with some water, and a couple of rocks for the frog to rest upon. Trevor looked quite happy in his new environment.

"Wow, how come I never thought of that?" Neville said in amazement, studying the tank. Just as Draco was about to say something sarcastic, Neville looked at him gratefully and said, "Thanks Malfoy." He couldn't really bring it in himself to insult the poor boy anymore, and merely nodded in acknowledgement.

Harry noticed this subtle interaction, and smirked a little, enough for it to be seen, yet not so obvious that Draco would notice it. He seemed to hate it when Harry smirked, and usually preferred to wipe it off his face… with some things that he would rather not mention now, lest his pants start feeling a little uncomfortable.

"Ron, you were saying something?" Harry prompted, wanting to distract himself from his thoughts and was rather curious about Ron's question. He lay back against the tree, and pulled out his holly and phoenix wand, using it to play with a bright red leaf that had fallen out of the great tree.

"Oh, yeah. Neville, just out of curiousity, have you and Pansy done it already?" Ron asked, excitement shining in his eyes. The poor boy almost toppled Trevor's tank over in shock, and the frog croaked his displeasure rather loudly.

"I-I-," Neville stammered, his face turning redder than the colour of his robes. Ron laughed, as did Harry and Draco - although they weren't very sure if his reaction was an affirmation or denial, it was admittedly quite funny.

"No, we haven't," Neville whispered, feeling a little mortified. "Well, if you ever find out what kind of lingerie Pansy wears, you can let Harry know. He was interested quite a while back," Draco joked, and Harry almost dropped his wand in astonishment. Neville turned his eyes onto Harry, and they were wide with fear and some shock.

"No! Draco, for Merlin's sake. That was before I started dating Draco, and he thinks that I'm quite interested in Pansy's lingerie because he made a joke about it in Potions," Harry explained, glaring at Draco, who was still chuckling with Ron. It was quite a sight - a Slytherin and three Gryffindors, getting along so well.

"What's this about lingerie?" Pansy asked, as she arrived with Hermione. Ron piped up. "We were talking about what sort of lingerie you girls might prefer." Pansy didn't hesitate with her answer. "I like my lingerie lacey. Emerald green and black are my favourites, though the occasional red wouldn't be bad," she said, eyeing Neville with open interest.

If humans could spontaneously combust, Harry was sure that Neville would've exploded into flames at that moment. Harry cast a charm on the poor boy in a bid to relieve the weird sexual tension and awkwardness of the situation.

" _Aguamenti_!" A clear jet of water emerged from the tip of his wand, and drenched Neville's robes and some of his hair. "What was that about?" Pansy demanded, looking at Harry in a rather annoyed sort of way.

"Well, after your comment about red lingerie, I was afraid poor Neville would spontaneously combust," Harry joked, and the rest of them burst into laughter, even Neville, who was sopping wet. Pansy tried to keep her anger, but cracked a smile at the joke as well.

"Oh, Harry. I didn't know you enjoyed jokes like these," Hermione said, wiping away a tear from the corner of her eye from laughing too hard. " _Exaresco_ ," she said, waving her wand, and the water evaporated from Neville immediately.

Harry made a mental note to remember that spell - it might come in handy in the future. "Well, now that Pansy's answered the question, I think it's fair play that Granger answered it as well, since her boyfriend brought it up in the first place," Draco said, his infuriatingly hot smirk now plastered across his face.

Hermione glared at Ron, who looked at her rather sheepishly, as if to say sorry.

"Well, I prefer my lingerie in silks and satins," Hermione said, blushing a little. "Please tell me they're not orange, like Chudley Cannons orange," Harry pleaded jokingly, and was surprised when she blushed even more. "I like them in black and white, but Ron always changes them to orange," she whispered, a little angry yet amused.

Ron just shrugged. "What?" he asked defensively, as four of them stared at Ron weirdly. "Maybe it's because he's a carrot top," Draco said in a non serious manner, and he had to conjure up a Shield charm in order to protect himself from the books that were flying towards him.

"Oi! Malfoy!" Ron yelled, grinning at the joke.

 _This is a definite improvement_ , Harry mused, as more books flew towards Draco, though without malicious intent. Gone were the days of using hexes and curses on Malfoy - he had managed to blend in with them, and they were all actually getting along rather pleasantly.

* * *

"Can someone tell me; where do Vanished objects go?" Professor McGonagall's voice rang out across the Transfiguration classroom, and as usual, Hermione's hand shot up into the air.

"Vanished objects go into non-being, which means they go into everything," she said, in her usual matter-of-fact tone.

"Very good, Miss Granger. Take ten points for Gryffindor," Professor McGonagall said, beaming at one of her favourite students. "Now try Vanishing your cups, and conjuring them back into existence."

" _Evanesco!_ " Harry said, in a bid to Vanish his cup. He wasn't doing very well at it, though a quick glance across the table showed that Draco had managed to do it, and conjure the cup back into existence again.

The green spark fluttered around him, and Harry decided that he might as well borrow some of Draco's magic to accomplish this. They were two powerful wizards, yes, but Harry acknowledged that his partner was indeed better at certain things, such as charms and intricate spells, while he himself seemed to be better at spells that involved duelling or protection.

Harry opened his mental barrier, and Draco's magic began to flow through him. It felt smooth and clean, and responded to Harry's commands like the snap of a whip - quick and lethal. He tried the spell again. " _Evanesco!_ "

The cup disappeared, to his delight. He closed the barrier, not wanting to use too much of Draco's magic lest he got tired - Harry remembered Dumbledore's warning - but when he looked at the blond, nothing was amiss. He was chatting animatedly with Pansy, and looked no different from usual. Conjuring it back was nothing, as he had no problems with conjuring spells. Vanishing seemed to be harder to control, and his statement was proven when Neville managed to only Vanish half his cup.

* * *

Potions went by without much incident with Draco guiding Harry along in making a Draught of Living Death - Harry remembered the instructions in Snape's old Potions textbook, and their potion turned out better than the rest. Snape was eyeing him, as if reading his mind. Harry quickly shut the mental barriers in his head, and was rewarded with a jerk from Snape, who was indeed in his head.

"Draco, and Potter. Both of you stay after class," Snape ordered. This used to be a regular occurrence, what with Harry and Draco fighting in Potions class, but now that there was no more bloodshed and carnage, most of the class was surprised to hear this.

Giving each other confused looks, the two boys nodded in acknowledgement as the rest of the class filed out slowly. Their newly formed group signaled to the boys that they would be waiting outside - though Draco had no doubt that they'd be snogging their faces off while 'waiting'.

"Into the office," Snape said, and swept up the stairs into his private room where he marked exam scripts… and did whatever else he did there.

"I have news for Draco, but I think you deserve to know as well, Potter. Lucius has escaped from Azkaban, and seems to be gunning for you," Snape said, looking at Draco. Harry's heart skipped a beat when he heard Snape's statement, already beginning to fear for his partner's life.

To his surprise, Draco shook his head. "No, godfather. Lucius wants Harry, and he wants me to hand him the Golden Boy on a silver platter. He considers me a disgrace to the Malfoy name for not doing that," he explained rather dryly, and Snape could barely repress a smile for his godson.

"He wants me? Why didn't you tell me?" Harry demanded immediately, his temper on the rise. "Potter, do sit down and think about the situation!" Snape snapped at him, immediately quieting the boy's outburst.

"What good would it do to let you know? The one currently in danger is Draco, because his father is trying to breach his dreams almost nightly via Legilimency! Thankfully, he is an accomplished Occlumens, and has been able to fight off Lucius. I let you know today because there is a very slight possibility that you might be in danger - but the one that has his life at risk is Draco. The wizarding world is keeping their eyes peeled, in fear that Lucius might kill you, but nobody would actually care if Draco died," Snape continued, his black eyes boring into Harry's green ones.

Harry pressed his lips together in barely repressed anger and shame - shame that he didn't realize earlier, and anger that he wasn't aware of his partner being in possible danger.

"If I may, godfather. It doesn't matter - if I die, Harry dies as well," Draco said, and Snape's expression turned to one of shock. He definitely wasn't expecting this.

"What makes you say that, Draco? Do you have an Unbreakable Vow to protect Potter?" Snape sounded incredulous, as if it was rather stupid for Draco to do that.

The blond shook his head. "We are bonded by the _Scintilla Lascivio_ , and one cannot live if the other is dead," he explained, looking over at Harry.

Snape pressed his lips together into a line. He looked over at both boys - how could he have missed it? They could barely stop touching each other, and the magic thrumming between them had definitely been scary, but he had chalked it up to their increased magical talents, especially after so much dueling and using of spells in the war.

It reminded him of someone that he would much rather not think of too often - but how could he, especially when those green eyes looked at him, so like his mother's?

"Your parents were bonded as well," Snape said quietly, looking at Harry. This was news to the brunette, and he turned away from Draco to look at his Potions teacher in shock. Snape's eyes rested on the lightning scar on the boy's head, and remembered why it was there.

He remembered cradling Lily's lifeless body in his arms, while this boy in front of him cried - cried for the loss of the parents that loved him, and loved each other more than anything in the world, other than their only son.

"Your mother and I were best friends in our first year, but by our fifth year, we had fallen out because of a… disagreement. I'm sure you know that one," Snape said, narrowing his eyes at Harry, who gulped audibly, remembering the Pensieve.

"She married James Potter right after graduation, and fought against the Dark Lord in the first wizarding war. There was a point in time where your father almost died dueling the Dark Lord, and your mother brought him back.

"Nobody thought that he would live past another day, but the next day came around, and there he was, weak, exhausted and badly injured - but still alive. Your mother was unharmed in the war, but she looked just as tired as he did. So I went to do my research on bonds - and came across the _Scintilla Lascivio_.

"She admitted to bonding with your father, because if not, he would've been dead and gone by morning. And came the day that one of your father's best friends -" Snape spat the words like it was something dirty - "betrayed him. The Dark Lord killed your father first, but your mother lived on with sheer will to protect you. Something that was supposed to be impossible. But she loved you so much that she stayed alive when she was dying by the seconds, just to try and protect you."

Harry felt that this was too much to take in at one go. His mother and father were bonded? Then it made sense that he would be able to do it as well - perhaps it was hereditary. His heart felt light yet weighed down at the same time - delighted at the fact that his parents shared this special bond and that he now did with Draco as well, and heavy at the thought of his parents dying for him.

"But Dumbledore said that the bond wasn't seen for almost a thousand years," Draco said, more of a question than a statement. Snape nodded. "Usually it is done with a loud declaration of love, but Lily kept it quiet because it was done in times of war, and she didn't want too many people to know. It can be exploited as a weakness."

Draco watched as the different emotions flickered across Harry's face - wonder, excitement, delight, then followed by grief and anguish - most probably for the parents he never knew, yet loved him so much that they died for him. He was just like an open book, so easy to read.

Without a word, he guided Harry away with a nod from Snape, who seemed incapable of any more words at the current moment. Behind his back, gripped tightly in his hand was a photo frame, and in it was a picture of the girl that he would love forever.

"I'm keeping my promise, Lily," Snape whispered, thinking of her green eyes - the only part of her that lived on in Harry James Potter.


	11. A Very Merry Christmas

Exams end Wednesday, so I'm hoping to upload more by then! Will be pretty busy having post-exam fun next weekend. :P

VERY ~SEXUAL~ things happening here. Once again if you don't enjoy boy-on-boy action, I suggest you leave this story now.

Enjoy!

* * *

The sun had barely risen when Balerion tapped his foot against the window. Draco opened one eye sleepily to wave his wand at the window, which opened slightly. The tawny eagle owl flew in and landed on the bedside table, sticking his leg out. Draco rubbed the head of his owl affectionately before taking the scroll off his leg, and opened it.

 _Dear Draco,_

 _I would like to request for a meeting with you and Harry both.  
Please be at my office tonight around 8p.m. after dinner._

 _Yours Sincerely,_

 _Albus Dumbledore_

 _P.S. I would definitely enjoy some Chocolate Frogs._

He gave Balerion a treat, and the owl ruffled his feathers proudly before flying to the top of the cupboard, where Hedwig was currently resting. The beautiful snowy white owl opened an eye to study the new arrival beside her, and promptly closed it in dismissal.

Balerion hooted softly and nudged the white owl, rubbing his face all over Hedwig gently. She snapped at him in a very coquettish manner, and took off into the sky out of the window, with Balerion following closely behind her.

Draco shut the window before the room got too cold, and decided that it would be good to light the fireplace. It was Christmas after all. " _Incendio,_ " he said, pointing his wand at the logs in the hearth, and a fire jumped up, burning merrily. It was barely six in the morning - still too early for breakfast. Harry finally stirred beside him, having slept through the racket their owls had made. "Good morning," Draco murmured to Harry as he stretched languidly after a good sleep. Letting out a contented sigh, Harry smiled sleepily at Draco.

"Good morning, and Merry Christmas to you," Harry mumbled, burrowing deeper into the covers.

Draco looked at his boyfriend, who had put on a very nice set of emerald pajamas that Mrs. Weasley had given him last Christmas after the war. He had to admit that the matriarch of the Weasley family knew what looked good on their 'adopted' son - green really suited Harry.

"Wake up, don't you want to open your presents?" Draco said, nudging Harry awake. "The only thing I'd like for you to unwrap is me," he returned from under the covers, his voice barely discernible through the thick sheets.

"Oh, is that so? Your wish is my command," Draco said with a grin, and dove under the covers with Harry, all their presents at the foot of the bed forgotten. Harry laughed at Draco's eagerness, and welcomed the scorching kiss that his boyfriend gave him.

T'was a good Christmas indeed, waking up to a delicious Draco Malfoy beside him. He was already shirtless, and Harry couldn't stop himself from touching the raised scars on Draco's chest, gently running the tips of his fingers across them repeatedly.

Harry was expecting the usual today - either getting off on Draco's hands or his mouth, but the blond had other plans in mind. He flipped Harry over, and Vanished both of their clothes in an instance. "Hey! Those are from Mrs. Weasley!" Harry protested, struggling from under Draco, though not with much effort.

"I'll return them to you… if you're a good boy today," Draco said with a smirk, as he pressed his chest into Harry's back, licking figure eights into the shell of his sensitive ears. Harry groaned at the statement and at the sensitivity of his ears - he loved it when Draco went all dominant on him. As usual, green silk ties wrapped around his wrists and bound him to the headboard. Another one wrapped itself around his eyes, obscuring his view.

"Who knew that the Chosen One had a submissive kink in him, right?" Draco drawled as he licked his way down to Harry's neck, noting the sensitive spots when the boy below him jerked in response to his wandering tongue.

"N-no! What submissive - oh god," Harry moaned, as Draco reached under him to fist his already hard length. Draco chuckled as his own length was nestled quite comfortably in the space between Harry's ass cheeks.

"Yes, Potter. I am your god," he whispered, smirking against Harry's skin. Harry sputtered in outrage, having his words turned against him by Draco. He particularly enjoyed calling Harry by his surname when they were doing the dominant and submissive thing in bed - it reminded him of their old days, sparring with words and wands. Now he was at the mercy of Draco's hands, and he enjoyed reminding Harry about it very often, though the brunette never did miss any opportunities to try and turn the tables on him. Keyword being _try._

By the time Draco had reached Harry's arse, the brunette was already trembling with anticipation, every stroke by Draco on his length a bittersweet pleasure-pain feeling. "How bad do you want this, Potter?" Draco asked, already learning down to rub a finger along the puckered hole.

"Bad. I want it bad, very bad," Harry panted, sweat already running down his forehead and back in rivulets. He felt as if he was about to combust, and the fire in the hearth wasn't exactly helping either. Harry let out a curse so explicit that had Mrs. Weasley heard him, she would've probably given him a spanking.

Which was what Draco did. A hand came down hard on his bottom, causing him to cry out in surprise. It was painful, but in a good way, and Harry felt Draco gently massaging the spot where he had hit - soothing the burn that remained afterwards.

"Now, now. Patience is a virtue, Potter. If you curse more, I'll be forced to spank you because you're being such a bad boy," Draco whispered. Shivers of desire shook Harry hard, and he whimpered. Taking pity on Harry, Draco leaned down and dragged Harry into a kneeling position.

He licked Harry from his length to the puckered hole, and the poor boy shook so forcefully Draco was afraid that he might fall apart. He slid a finger in, and Harry cried out with relief, feeling the way Draco was moving in and out of him - until he hit the spot that was his prostrate. Harry came onto the bed, the feeling too overwhelming after being tortured for so long. He felt as if he was in a daze, the colourful lights behind his eyes winking in and out of view.

"You came before I let you." Draco's voice was barely a whisper, but Harry managed to catch it. "You always defy me, so I can punish you. Isn't that right, Potter?"

Harry whispered _no_ , though he wasn't sure if that was what he did subconsciously - intentionally defy Draco so that he could receive more punishment from him. Harry couldn't see, but he knew in that moment the blond had that signature smirk of his on his face, and that really got Harry's engine going.

Draco felt Harry clench around his finger, and knew that this was turning him on incredibly. "Like I've said before, Potter. You're a fucking terrible liar," Draco said, bending over so that his cock rested on Harry's arse, and whispered that into his ear.

Harry didn't know what else to say anymore, so he just bit his lip in anticipation as he waited for Draco's next move. Draco slowly pushed his length into Harry, careful not to hurt him. By the time he was fully buried inside, Harry was panting uncontrollably, his hands wrapped around the silk ties, tugging and jerking at them.

"Are you feeling okay?" Draco asked, gently caressing Harry's length, afraid that if he moved, it would hurt him. "MOVE!" Harry bellowed, feeling quite frustrated that Draco wasn't doing anything while his length was already inside of him, and Harry considered that quite a waste of good time.

Draco chuckled and complied with Harry's demand - his thrusts slowly increased in speed, with Harry pushing back against him, demanding more and more. The silk ties looked dangerously close to snapping, with the amount of strength that Harry was using to grab on to it for dear life. Draco slammed into Harry, hard and rough with want, and yanked the boy backwards by his hair, so he could kiss him.

Harry moaned against Draco's mouth as pleasure assaulted him from head to toe - the burning taste of Draco in his mouth, the way he moved as he slammed deep into Harry. Letting go of Harry, who then fell forward again, Draco fisted Harry's length and started to rub him, in sync with his thrusts.

"Draco, I'm going to -" Harry grunted, barely able to hold himself together. He wanted to prolong it so that he could enjoy this longer, but Draco hit that magical spot with his length again, and Harry flew apart, his body succumbing to the onslaught of his orgasm. Draco growled as he thrust one last time, and came, with Harry still clenching him tight.

Both of them fell onto the bed, panting. The silk ties disappeared from Harry's hands and eyes, and he opened his eyes to see a very self-satisfied Draco, still smirking at him. "That was fucking amazing," Draco said, and Harry showed his agreement with a soft kiss. He was decidedly glad that he had lost his virginity to Draco - he was a great lover.

"Well, at least we now know that your submissive kink gets you off," Draco said, grinning at Harry, who seemed content to just stare at him. He blushed at that, and pulled the covers over his head in embarrassment, further amusing Draco. He ducked under the blanket as well.

"Just so you know," Draco whispered in the darkness, "Your submissive kink really, really turns me on." That elicited a chuckle from Harry. "I think you just enjoy being able to assert your authority over anything, Draco."

They both emerged from the covers, laughing. "Come, I think it's time we opened our presents," Draco said, _Accio_ -ing the presents that had dropped onto the floor while they were getting it on. He also conjured Harry's emerald pajamas back, folded neatly in a pile.

"Oh, look! Mrs. Weasley knitted me another sweater. Come to think of it, I have about eight of them now." This one had a beautiful phoenix design on a green background. Draco felt that it was rather Christmas-y, and was pleasantly surprised to find out that she had knitted him one as well.

"Well, I'm not sure if Ron told her about the bond… but if he didn't, she either has a crazy sixth sense, or thought that the dragon suited you," Harry mused, looking at the sweater. It had the same green background as Harry's, but had a gorgeous silvery dragon on it.

"Ah. The Antipodean Opaleye. A gorgeous dragon," Draco said with a rather dreamy look. "Have you ever seen one?" Harry asked, seeing the thoughts flicker past in Draco's eyes.

"Yes, when my parents took me on holiday to New Zealand. They're not very aggressive, unless provoked. They are dwindling in the numbers though - their scales are highly sought after because of its opalescent colours."

"I'm quite sure Charlie told Mrs. Weasley about that dragon, and it reminded her of you," Harry decided, knowing that the older Weasley brother was obsessed with dragons, and had dedicated his life to the care and protection of those magnificent creatures.

"Oh, Harry. Do you think I'm gorgeous too?" Draco asked, fluttering his eyelashes, though with a smirk.

"Don't be gay, Draco," Harry joked.

"Ah, such a pity that I am," Draco returned, his eyes dropping to Harry's crotch. Laughing, the two proceeded to unwrap the rest of their presents before calling Dobby for some breakfast.

"I gather the two of you enjoyed your Christmas morning?" Pansy said with a knowing look towards the two boys, while she munched on a breakfast sandwich as they waited for the afternoon feast to begin. Draco merely raised an eyebrow at her and responded in kind.

"While I was asleep in bed with Harry, mind, I did hear some rather interesting sounds from the dormitory room next door," he said, eyeing the two other couples with interest. Pansy merely _'hmphed_ ' him and returned to her sandwich, while Neville, Ron and Hermione turned red.

"I thought you said you did the Silencing charm already, Ron!" Hermione whispered, sounding quite agitated. "I did!" Ron protested, frowning at his girlfriend.

"I think you forgot to enchant the wall, Weasley. Walls have ears too," Draco said with a very self-satisfied smirk, and bit into his sandwich. Hermione hid her face in her hands while Ron decided that his breakfast was far more interesting than his friends at that moment.

Neville and Pansy didn't say much, but their body language gave it away. Harry knew of the little touches that went on between them, like Draco did to him almost every second of the day, not that he was complaining.

Harry made a mental note to send Pansy a card on a job well done. "By the way, Dumbledore wants to see us in his office at night," Draco whispered in his ear. That put him on full alert, all of the humour draining out of him immediately. "What's going on? Did something happen?" he whispered back, wanting more details.

Draco shrugged. "He didn't say much… just that he wanted to see us. He probably just wants to tell us something in person." Harry nodded, still feeling a little unconvinced, though the thought was quickly squashed when the teachers entered the Great Hall for the feast.

There was only one table as a lot of the other students had gone back to their homes for the Christmas break - there were only about twenty students in the hall, including the six of them. The professors settled down, and the feast commenced, with stuffed turkey, log cakes, sliced ham and much, much more.

Snape didn't look very pleased when Ron's Christmas cracker exploded with a loud BANG. The confetti landed on him and made him look rather peculiar, at which Draco snickered. Snape hexed Draco from under the table with the _Titillando_ spell, and the blond couldn't stop crying and laughing as translucent purple hands tickled the life out of him.

 _"Finite!"_ Pansy cried, halting the spell, allowing Draco to breathe normally once again. Snape chuckled to himself and brushed the confetti out of his greasy hair. Harry refused to look at Draco or his godfather, in fear of being hexed himself. His other friends were also smart enough to do the same.

The Christmas lunch passed, and Harry found himself with a few gifts that he had wanted quite recently. He received a hat that looked a lot like Professor McGonagall's but newer, a new wizard chess set (his got busted up in the war when Hogwarts was under attack), and a set of muggle novels that read, "Fifty Shades of Grey: The Trilogy".

Frowning at the ambiguous book covers, Harry flipped it open and saw that the publish date was in the year 2011. "Draco, is it just me or are these muggle books way ahead of our time?" Harry said frowning at the books in his hand.

"That's almost 13 years ahead of us!" Draco stared at the books warily, as if they might just start moving. From in between the pages dropped out a Time-Turner - Harry and Hermione recognized it immediately. "Weren't all of these destroyed when we went to the Department of Mysteries?" Hermione looked just as shocked as Harry did to see one of these little golden trinkets.

Professor McGonagall noticed the little commotion then, and realized that the younger ones had taken her Christmas cracker by accident. "Those are mine," she said, blushing, much to the surprise of everyone.

Suspicious of what was in the books, Harry whispered "Geminio". The books duplicated themselves, and he dropped the copies under the table before Professor McGonagall reached him and took the three books from his hands.

"Professor, why is there a Time-Turner here?" Hermione asked, as Harry handed McGonagall the Time-Turner. Their professor's face turned rather smug. "The Ministry never did ask for it after you returned it to me, so I kept it."

"She's got the last time-turner in her hands!" Ron exclaimed, bug-eyed and staring at McGonagall as she left the Great Hall in a hurry. "Well, at least we've got copies of what she ordered from the future. Anyone up for some reading?" Harry asked as he picked up the books from the floor.

A patterned tie, a mask, and a handcuff each on the cover of these novels. "These look quite like crime novels," Hermione suggested as they headed towards the library. "I'm thinking mystery," Draco mused, while Ron still looked a little dumbfounded from the Time-Turner revelation.

Pansy and Neville had no comment - actually, they were nowhere to be found. "Must've gone off somewhere to shag each other senseless," Draco said, and waved the others onwards when they stopped. The library was quiet - too quiet. In fact, even Madam Pince wasn't around, which meant that they could talk as loudly as they wanted.

By the time they had gone through the first book, it was dusk, and the four of them sat together in an awkward silence. "Well, it definitely wasn't what I expected it to be," Draco said, closing the book shut, thinking of the characters. The male lead in the book had some rather interesting ideas that he wanted to try out on Harry.

Hermione shook her head, as if trying to rid herself of the images that the book had given her. Ron just stared into space blankly, as if someone had stolen all his thoughts away. Harry assumed that he had gone into shock - Ron was quite a vanilla person, and didn't really like anything out of the ordinary.

"What'd we miss?" Neville asked as he and Pansy joined the quad at the library table. The four of them looked at each other, and replied in unison. "A lot."

"Here, take this and read it - maybe in bed, It'll be interesting," Draco said, thrusting the book into Pansy's arms. The Slytherin girl looked at him suspiciously as they left the library.

"Do you think I can wash this out of my mind if I get Hermione to Obliviate me?" Ron asked as they made their way back to the Gryffindor dormitories. "Doubtful," Harry said with a rueful grin.

The book was quite vivid and detailed in its descriptions, though he found himself enjoying the scenes where the male lead - Christian - was being a dominant asshat. Harry looked at Draco, and found amusement in the fact that he was rather similar to Christian.

Draco looked at his watch - it was almost eight, and dragged Harry towards Dumbledore's office. Waving goodbye to Ron and Hermione, the two ran towards the stone gargoyle. "Chocolate Frogs!" Draco panted, and the stone gargoyle jumped aside, the stairs popping into place.

"Ah, welcome. Just on time too," Dumbledore said as the two of them burst into the office. Fawkes looked at them curiously. Draco let go of Harry's hand, both of them still blushing from sprinting, and slight embarrassment from Dumbledore seeing them hold hands.

"Have a seat," he offered to Draco and Harry. Both sat down gratefully, still recovering from the adrenaline in their veins. "If I may ask, Professor, what are we here for today?" Harry had been wondering all day.

"I have asked you both here tonight to warn you that you cannot be too apart too long, or too far away. I came across this in another book, but didn't want to risk any letters being intercepted by your father," Dumbledore said, glancing at Draco who nodded in agreement.

"Your bond requires both to be bonded quite often, yes, but you cannot spend too much time apart, or the bond will start twisting your personalities into a darker one," he explained, to which both Harry and Draco shared a look.

"It has happened once, actually," Draco said, looking at Professor Dumbledore, who looked extremely tired and worried.

"Then I hope that you won't let it happen again, boys. Also, if you are too far apart, there will be excruciating pain. Every couple has different limits, so I cannot be too sure about how far you two can be from each other," he explained, looking at both boys.

"We're fine in school… even at Hogsmeade, but that's all we know," Harry shared, wondering what Dumbledore was afraid of by telling them this. His next sentence explained everything.

"I think that Lucius is not fully aware of what your bond to Harry is, Draco. He thinks that it is merely a connection through your minds - like what Harry and Lord Voldemort once had."

Draco wasn't very surprised to hear that Dumbledore had come to this conclusion, because he thought the same as well.

"But you must be careful, Draco. Lucius would not dare to openly attack Harry, so you must be on alert. Word is that he's made his way back to London already, and I wouldn't be too surprised if he can find a way into Hogsmeade undetected," Dumbledore said grimly.

"But isn't the Ministry looking for him? Why haven't they found him yet?" Harry asked, starting to feel very worried for Draco.

"You know the Ministry's incompetencies, Harry. And Lucius is a powerful wizard - he can avoid detection very easily. I have no doubt that he could easily be right under the Aurors' noses and they wouldn't even notice."

If I ever become an Auror, I have to be better than that, Harry thought, making a mental note to himself.

"Also just to let you boys know, I will be away for the next month. If anything strange happens, tell Professor McGonagall or Professor Snape, and they will get in touch with me."

Harry didn't really like the sound of Dumbledore being gone. "Where are you going, Professor?" he asked, rather curious as to where Dumbledore would go at a time like this.

"Home, for some well-deserved rest, as well as the Wizard's Convention that is happening in London in a week's time. I will also try to keep a lookout for Lucius, but it's quite unlikely he will be caught anytime soon."

"Thanks for the warning, Professor. Have a Merry Christmas," Draco said, and left with Harry soon after, not wanting to bother the Headmaster too much.

Madam Pomfrey entered into the Headmaster's office not long after the boys left, holding a bottle of gin and two glasses.

"It's Christmas, Albus. Would you like some company?" she asked, looking at their Headmaster, who looked extremely tired and stressed.

He brightened at the sight of Poppy in his office. "Oh, yes. That would be very pleasant," he said, the smile on his face reaching his blue eyes.

Madam Pomfrey sat down, poured herself and Dumbledore a drink, and the two talked into the wee hours of midnight, until both of them fell asleep on the table, the alcohol finally taking effect.


	12. A Sense of Foreboding

Oops sorry for the slow update!

I've been busy with things. Things are slowly starting to develop, I promise!

More boy x boy so if you dislike/ hate it, please don't read this fic.

I'll also try my best to update the story ASAP, but honestly I'm not very ready for this fanfic to end...

So I might drag it on a little more. x

* * *

Moonlight shone on a snowy night, the freshly fallen snow seemingly glowing bright against the darkness of the Forbidden Forest.

From in between the trees, a white peacock slowly strutted towards the castle. It was completely white, even its feathers, though it had almost holographic qualities; reflecting the moonlight and showing almost every other colour in the rainbow.

The peacock waited, and waited… until Hagrid's light went out in his hut, and the peacock very slowly transformed into a man.

Lucius shook off the snow on him and drew his tattered cloak closer to him for warmth - and watched the Gryffindor tower. The candles there flickered, casting a warm glow around the entire tower. He saw shadows of the students in there, enjoying their time at night.

"Enjoy your time now... but you will be mine, Harry Potter. And this time, there will be no magical bond between you and me that can possibly save you," Lucius whispered, and drew the hood of his cloak up before retreating back into the forest.

* * *

The bond was starting to tug at Harry almost painfully as he tried to finish his mock Potions exam – both him and Draco haven't managed to be intimate in almost two weeks' time due to studying for their upcoming papers, and it was starting to hurt.

Hermione made sure that they were studying and not doing something else, so Harry and Draco had close to no time to get handsy with each other even at night. They were too exhausted from studying, and fell asleep almost immediately when they hit the sheets.

Quidditch was also getting more and more intense as Slytherin and Gryffindor were drawing for points after every single game – both Harry and Draco played dirty on the field, elbowing and grabbing each other in a bid for distraction. It worked, because Harry missed the Snitch twice due to being distracted by Draco's smirk and lost Gryffindor the game, though their points ended up being the same.

Nobody in school suspected anything about them dating, because they still 'fought' occasionally while they hung out. Harry once suspended Draco with the _Levicorpus_ spell because he was being a jerk, though the blond had his revenge in bed…

Jerking himself away from his too distracting thoughts, Harry furiously scribbled his last sentence onto his parchment, and the examiner's voice rang out across the Great Hall.

"Quills down please!"

Harry put his feathered quill down and glanced over to his two best friends – Ron looked defeated, slumped into his chair and Hermione looked nervous, fidgeting as their exam scripts rolled themselves up and flew into a pile on the examiner's table in front.

He turned his head and immediately, as if drawn to him, Harry locked eyes with Draco, who looking back and staring at him intensely, his eyes looking like molten silver. He felt a shiver go down his back as the Hall was filled with the scraping of chairs pushed backwards, and he quickly made his way outside to wait for his friends.

Pansy looked rather cheery as she met up with the group, while Neville looked extremely depressed. "What's wrong, pumpkin?" Pansy asked as she tipped Neville's chin upwards. "I think I might have messed up questions twelve and twenty-five, and those had the most marks," he said, his lips trembling.

"It'll be fine," she said reassuringly, twining their hands together, rubbing her thumb along Neville's in a bid to comfort him. The boy did look less agitated afterwards, which was something considering that Neville's fellow Housemates could rarely console him after he thought he had done something wrong.

Draco finally sauntered out of the Hall and made his way to stand beside Harry. Pansy looked at the two boys and felt rather alarmed – the sexual tension crackling off the both of them was honestly quite scary. Their magic was so powerful that others felt it as well, and gave the group a wide berth.

"Pretty sure I wrote the wrong ingredient for the Veritaserum potion, and also messed up a theory on the history of how the Draught of Peace was first brewed…" Hermione said anxiously, wringing her fingers together, oblivious to Draco and Harry's intense magic. Ron looked at the two boys rather uncomfortably, though he did draw Hermione into his side in a bid to comfort her; it worked, because she stopped and smiled up at her boyfriend.

The group slowly moved towards the Great Hall, chattering about the Potions exam, while Ron kept his hands on his ears, firmly stating that it was over and that he wanted to hear no more about it. "He's been like this for years," Harry explained when Pansy stared at Ron weirdly.

They were about to turn into the Great Hall when they bumped into Hagrid, who looked quite anxious. "Hagrid? What's wrong?" Harry asked, when the gamekeeper almost walked past the entire group without saying hello.

"Wha- oh, it's yer lot. Say, have you bin seeing Dumbledore around?" Hagrid asked, peering over their heads into the Great Hall. The group shook their heads.

"Dumbledore said he'd be in England for a Wizard's Convention," Harry said, and Hagrid didn't take the news very well.

"Blimey, what bad timing…" Hagrid wandered off after that, looking rather sad. The group watched him go rather confusedly - except for Draco. His eyes were sharp enough to catch bits of white - feathers? - on his coat and shoes. He had his suspicions - was Lucius already hiding in the school?

"Hagrid, wait. What are those on your coat and shoes?" Draco asked, just as Hagrid was about to head back to his little hut.

"Oh, this was why I came ter look for Dumbledore… see, it's bin happening for a few weeks now. My chickens have bin slowly goin' missing, an' I always wake up covered in white feathers when one goes missing… today the last one was gone." Hagrid looked as if he was about to burst out in tears, so the group sat him down at one of the benches in the courtyard and tried to console him.

Meanwhile, Draco didn't say much, lost in his own thoughts. Harry noticed this and nudged Draco, who growled at him softly.

"Hagrid, I'm sorry but I have to ask - when did this start happening?" The blond asked, his voice soft but firm.

"Er, a couple o' weeks ago I think." Hagrid's eyebrows were knitted together, trying to recall additional details. "Oh and er, I found a feather bit that looked different from the chicken ones…" he reached into his pocket and pulled out a very small piece of broken feather, but the difference was that this one shone brilliantly in the light, even when the sun was muted from the cold.

Eyes widening with realization, Draco hurriedly excused himself from the group and ran straight to Professor Snape's office.

"Draco? To what do I owe this pleasure?" Snape asked, when he burst into the office. Lupin was there as well, and it was obvious that both of them were deep in discussion about something.

"Professor-" Draco struggled to catch his breath. "I think my father is already on Hogwarts grounds," he exhaled in one breath, still unable to breathe normally.

"Wait - what? Lucius Malfoy is on Hogwarts grounds?" Lupin asked, his eyes sharp and already thinking. Draco swore he could see the cogs and gears going off in Lupin's head.

Behind Draco, Harry burst into the room as well, obviously trying to catch up with Draco. "Harry!" Lupin got up from his chair and enveloped his best friend's son in his arms - and also his child's godfather.

"Remus! You're in school already?" Harry asked, returning the hug and beyond happy to have a competent Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher again, especially one that he knew so well.

"The touching reunion can wait," Snape said dryly before he turned to Draco. "What makes you think Lucius is on Hogwarts grounds, Draco?"

Draco relayed everything that Hagrid told the group, about how the chickens were disappearing and the special feather that he had found. Lucius was probably catching the chickens and using them for food rather than having to scavenge for his meals.

"I think only our immediate family knew, but… Father was an Animagus. Unregistered, obviously, but he's an albino peacock with iridescent feathers."

Snape pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation and amusement. "Lucius, Lucius. Never one to let anyone outdo him."

"I know this may not be really him, but we should be careful," Draco said quietly. Snape nodded in agreement. The two left the office, with Lupin asking Harry to visit him later in his own office.

"Ah, I completely forgot about writing back to Sirius… and we've missed lunch by the looks of it," Harry said, glancing at the watch Mrs Weasley had given him for his birthday.

"Well, if you don't mind missing lunch, I might have a suggestion…" said Draco silkily, tipping Harry's chin up so that their faces were extremely close. The magic between them flared to life again, and crackled as if it were alive. Harry nodded mutely, already anticipating whatever Draco wanted to do to him.

Immediately Draco strode off, and Harry followed. He had an idea where Draco was going, and his thoughts were confirmed when they found themselves outside the Prefects' Bathroom.

"Sea salt," Draco said to the statue of Boris the Bewildered, and the door slid open very slowly. Harry remembered this place - it was where he has solved the golden egg's clue thanks to the help of Moaning Myrtle and Cedric.

"I hope Moaning Myrtle doesn't show up," Harry said as they both made their way to the shower stalls.

"I haven't seen her in ages. But we wouldn't want her to catch us in flagrante delicto, would we?" Draco asked slowly, a smirk already plastered across his handsome face.

Harry shook his head, quite amused. Just then, the door to the Prefects' Bathroom made a noise as if it were opening, and Draco quickly dragged Harry into a shower stall before anyone saw them.

Just as Draco locked the door, familiar voices rang out. Ron, Seamus, Dean and Neville made their way in, obviously intending to take a well-deserved and relaxing bath after their exams.

Slowly, Draco started kissing Harry, both of them pushing their robes off, hands hurriedly unbuttoning each other's shirts.

"I didn't see Harry and Malfoy for lunch… and y'know, they seem to be quite serious about what they have, especially with that amazing sexual tension crackling off them after the Potions exams. So hot!" Dean exclaimed as he turned on one of the taps.

Ron crouched on the other side, turning two other bejeweled taps.

"I mean, s'not like Harry has a choice - they're bonded," Ron said, shrugging.

"Never pegged Harry for a queer though," Seamus said wonderingly, and Dean had to pinch him on the arm.

"Interested, are you?" Dean teased. Inside the shower stall, Draco's grip on Harry tightened, and he let out a gasp of pain, though it was muffled by Draco's mouth.

Neville's eyes widened as he caught the sound. "Did you guys hear that?" he asked, a little scared. The other boys shook their heads, unable to hear much over the roaring of the taps.

"No, Dean… you're the only one I yearn for," Seamus said, winking back at him. Only then Draco's grip loosened, but the blond kissed Harry roughly, as if taking out his frustration and anger on him.

Relishing the pain, Harry kissed Draco with all he had, their teeth clashing against each other as they explored the other with their lips. Harry whispered " _Muffliato"_ as Draco Vanished their clothes for easy access.

With a flick of his wrist, Draco turned on the shower without even having to take his hands off Harry. Their magic was growing stronger and stronger, and it showed in their abilities. They barely had to use wands for minute things like these; finding it easy to control their magic by just consciously manipulating it.

Water beat down around them, soaking both of them. Harry doubted that he would ever see a more magnificent sight - Draco Malfoy looking like a god, his muscles and abs covered in water droplets - Harry wanted to lick him dry.

Draco loved how the water made their skin slick, so rubbing himself against Harry was no problem at all. Tracing the six pack that Harry had, Draco's hand slowly drifted south as they kissed each other.

Outside, the boys had the bath already filled up and they got in.

"Continuing where we left off - what do you mean Draco and Harry are bonded?" Dean asked rather curiously.

"Oh right, you guys don't know. Er, try not to tell other people, will you? Harry and Malfoy are bonded together by magic, very old magic. Their lives are tied together, essentially," Ron explained as Neville sighed blissfully in the hot water. The bath was popular especially during winter, but seeing that they were seventh years, nobody dared argue with them when they wanted the bathroom.

"Wait, so say if Malfoy dies, Harry dies as well?" Seamus asked, his eyes wide with shock. Ron nodded in response.

"That's definitely not good… but at least they seem happy together, right Seamus?" Dean asked his boyfriend, who was rubbing the hot water all over his skin delightedly.

"Oh yeah. They had this weird chemistry thing going on… always picking fights with each other, duelling in the hallways… but I guess they've settled for shagging the hell out of each other now," Seamus said, grinning.

"Well, Malfoy is pretty hot… I mean, have you seen his abs? A solid six pack!" Dean said teasingly, earning him a glare from Seamus.

Harry's hand tightened in Draco's hair as he pushed the blond down to a kneeling position. Smirking, Draco took Harry into his mouth, earning a loud yell from the brunette, who didn't expect the wet heat now surrounding his length.

All that came out of the stall was a muffled sound, and the boys didn't even hear it over their conversation.

"The only other seventh year to rival Malfoy's abs is Harry, so I guess they can enjoy each other," Neville said, shrugging. The others nodded in agreement and decided to relax, laying their heads on the edge of the bath. Teasingly, Dean responded to Neville's statement.

"Well, you're not too bad yourself. I'm sure Pansy enjoys your delicious six pack as well," Dean said, and Neville blushed beet red.

Harry was still moaning as Draco sucked him, gripping his arse tightly as he pumped his hips back and forth.

Draco pulled back and gave Harry's length one last lick before standing up and slamming the brunette back into the door. The boys still heard nothing. By now Harry was already burning, wanting Draco.

Harry watched through heavy-lidded eyes as the blond kissed him and raised one of his legs for easier access. Draco pushed into him, and both of them groaned at the heady feeling.

"You're going to fucking kill me, Malfoy," Harry said breathlessly as Draco slammed into him, pushing Harry against the shower stall's door repeatedly. "You are _mine,_ " Draco hissed, and tightened his grip on Harry as he thrusted back and forth, both ensnared in rapturous bliss.

"Well, let's not just talk about boys… how's you and Hermione?" Dean asked mischievously as Ron sunk lower into the bath. Not expecting that question, the ginger slipped deeper into the bath, spluttering as the water rushed into his mouth.

"Blimey, Dean! You can't just ask something like that," Ron said after coughing up the water, obviously flustered. Dean just smiled and didn't say much, though it was obvious that the question had already caught the other two boys' attention; Ron couldn't not answer anymore.

"Well, we're good I guess," he said, though his voice had become really small. Seamus chuckled at the embarrassment that Ron was showing, finding it extremely amusing because Ron was usually more outspoken about things.

"How about Neville? Other than Harry, he has the most interesting love life amongst us three - he's dating a Slytherin," Dean smirked at Neville, who looked extremely scandalized to be asked that question.

Even Ron looked interested at this question. Neville acquiesced and answered. "Well, she's interesting… more than Gryffindor girls." He shrugged, not wanting to say more. Dean decided not to push for more - after all, Neville wasn't known for spilling secrets.

Meanwhile, Draco had his mouth on Harry's, their chests pressed into each other's with the hot shower still raining down on them. Grunting,he thrusted harder as his climax approached and fisted Harry's length as the brunette gripped his shoulders so hard that Draco suspected he might be bruised afterwards.

"How bad do you want to come, Potter?" Malfoy asked, biting and nipping along Harry's jawline. "Probably as bad as you do, Malfoy," Harry gasped out as Draco tilted his hips and hit that sweet spot in his arse.

"Damn right, Potter."

With one last thrust, both of them fell over the cliff and into the hazy afterglow of good sex.

"All I want right now is you and me in our bed," Harry muttered as both of them fell to the floor with the shower still running above him. "That would be -" Draco answered, and the next thing they knew, both of them were gone from the stall, and they dropped onto Harry's large four-poster bed.

"Nice?" Draco finished his sentence as a question, shocked that they had moved from the Prefect's bathroom straight to Harry's bedroom by Apparition. "How did you do that? We're not supposed to be able to Apparate in Hogwarts," Harry said, turning to look at Draco. Grey eyes wide with shock looked back at him.

"I thought it was you! Oh god, it must be the magic. It's getting so powerful," Draco said, looking at their sparks. The green and red spark glowed brighter than before, it was almost blinding. They could ignore it because it was a part of them now, but now that he looked closely at it… it shone brilliantly, almost like a polished gem.

"I know strong magic is good, but I think we should inform Dumbledore about this. Maybe Snape too. I'll write a letter to Sirius as well to update him - it's way overdue." Draco nodded in agreement, and as Harry left to get his quill and parchment, he slapped the brunette on his arse, earning him a grunt from the boy.

While he had to admit that although things with Harry were just getting good, he couldn't help but feel as if something big was about to happen… something that wasn't going to be good. With a sense of foreboding, he watched as Harry penned a letter to the Headmaster and his godfather - he was going to protect Harry at all costs. He would find a way to ensure that Harry would live even if he died.


	13. New Information

Sorry for the slow updates! School just started - I've literally wasted my two weeks of holidays doing nothing.

This is more of a transitional chapter, and reveals more things about Lily and James.

Everything will slowly work out! I'm still updating, so don't unsubscribe! Reviews will be much appreciated. Cheers!

* * *

Harry was getting rather incensed at the fact that Draco wasn't spending much time with him; in fact, the blond spent more time with Hermione in the library, poring over books. He claimed to be studying for the upcoming exams, but Harry wasn't exactly convinced. After lamenting it to Ron for the umpteenth time, the ginger looked at his best friend exasperatedly.

"If you're so sure he's not studying, why not join him in the library yourself?" Ron asked, rolling his eyes as they strode onto the pitch to practice for Quidditch.

"I can't! Every time he goes to the library, I seem to have something going on. Meeting Remus. Quidditch practice. Detention." Harry ran a hand through his hair in frustration, causing some of it to stick up weirdly.

"Now that does sound a bit suspicious… but why would he want to hide anything from you anyways? You just gotta trust him, Harry." Ron dismissed Harry's worries and took off into the air on his broom.

"Why is it that whenever I say something that might actually be legitimately suspicious, my best friend dismisses it?" Harry muttered, thinking back to when he suspected Draco was a Death Eater and feeling rather disgruntled at Ron.

Draco sat in the library with Hermione, both of them poring over books taken from the Restricted Section over the history of the _Scintilla Lascivio_. Dumbledore had given them special permission after Draco had asked in a letter, explaining that he wanted to know more about the bond.

"Any luck, Granger?" Draco looked up across the table, where Hermione was studying a rather dusty book intently. She looked up and shook her head in dismay - Draco felt his hopes drop a little.

He looked out the window and saw that the Gryffindor team was about to finish their practice, so he quickly returned the books that he had borrowed, and settled down to read up on Defense Against the Dark Arts before Harry came up. Hermione quickly followed suit.

Draco didn't want Harry to know that he was looking for ways to keep him alive at the cost of his own - because he knew that it would make Harry extremely unhappy. Harry also watched him suspiciously - he knew, because Hermione told him about what she heard Harry telling Ron in their common room. He didn't know what Draco was up to in the library, and he wanted to know.

Madam Pince suddenly came up behind him, startling him out of his thoughts.

"Here, Mr Malfoy. Professor Snape asked me to hand this to you." She passed him an old notebook and left. A note was stuck on it.

 _I hope the contents of this notebook will help you in your quest to find out more about the bond - feel free to come look for me or Professor Lupin for more information on it._

 _Snape_

Draco opened the book, stuck the note into it and read one of the pages.

* * *

 _Day 379_

 _James is recovering well thanks to the bond. It's also tiring me out quite a bit, but I'm guessing that it's siphoning some of my life force to compensate for James' ebbing one. Sounds fair to me._

 _Voldemort is still on the loose after that last fight - thankfully I managed to save James before the wounds got too severe for magic to mend. Never have I been more grateful to know Dumbledore - he knew of the bond and told me about it, thus allowing me to perform the spell._

 _Complicated bit there to get James to exchange magic with me while unconscious, but I managed it. The magic that bonds us not only tells us where each other are, but allows us to siphon each other's magic._

 _I also have good news for James when he awakens - I'm pregnant! I'm not too sure what effects the bond will have on the child, but it's too early to confirm anything._

 _He's waking up. I'll write again soon._

 _Lily_

* * *

Draco realized that this book was Lily Potter's diary - hopefully it would aid him in his mission to save Harry's life. He quickly stashed it into his bag, and managed to turn back to his DADA textbook just as Harry and Ron strode towards their table in the library.

"Hey, how's studying?" Ron asked Hermione as he kissed her on the forehead.

"It was good… how was practice?" Hermione was beaming with happiness, and it was rather infectious as well.

"Oh, it was great… not that I'll be going into details when there's a Slytherin around," Ron said slyly as he looked over at Draco.

The blond held both hands up in mock surrender.

"You got me right there. I'm literally fraternizing with the enemy," Draco said teasingly as he looked at Harry, who grinned back at him.

"Mmm, you look good enough to eat," the blond said teasingly as he took in the disheveled appearance that Harry had after flying - sweaty, happy and hair sticking up in weird places.

"O-kay, keep it in the bedroom," Ron said loudly while covering Hermione's eyes, earning them a glare from Madam Pince. Hermione giggled at the gesture, while Harry and Draco rolled their eyes in amusement.

"Let's go, it's dinnertime," Draco said as he packed up his quills and textbooks.

While stowing away his things, a worn out and bound notebook fell out of Draco's bag. Harry looked at it in interest.

"What's that?" Harry asked with curiosity.

"Something my mother sent me from Malfoy Manor - her notes, so to speak," Draco lied convincingly. Harry didn't suspect anything in that statement - after all, it was from 'Draco's mother'.

"Well, let's not delay dinner any longer. I'm starved," Draco announced, slinging his bag across his shoulder. The rest followed suit and they all headed to the Great Hall, chattering about the upcoming Quidditch match in February between Ravenclaw and Slytherin.

"Well, of course we're going to win," Draco said haughtily as Harry mused on the fact that Cho was the seeker.

"Yeah, maybe if someone yells 'Cedric' she might miss the Snitch," Ron snickered, remembering the way that she had burst into tears whenever she thought of Diggory in their sixth year.

"Last I heard she was going out with Michael Corner," Hermione mused.

"Wanna bet she might've accidentally yelled Diggory's name in bed with him at least once?" Draco asked, smirking.

"In actual fact, she has," a voice said from behind them. The group turned around to see Pansy, carrying her books from Charms class.

"How would you know?" Harry sounded rather suspicious as he posed the question.

"Oh, you know Blaise… such a gossipmonger. He overheard Michael Corner complaining about it to some other Ravenclaw boy in the hallways," Pansy said, waving them off.

"Well, I guess you know what to use as a distraction tactic in our next Quidditch match now, Pansy," Draco said, laughing as she made a face thinking about Michael Corner and Cho Chang in bed. "

Slytherins," Harry muttered, though with a tinge of amusement in his voice.

"Ah, Gryffindors. So righteous and just, unwilling to do or say anything unfair," Draco said with a sarcastic drawl, exaggeratedly puffing out his chest at the end of his sentence.

"Oi!" Ron yelled, chucking a book at Draco, who deftly dodged it.

"I see your aim still hasn't improved, Weasley," Draco said, grinning back at the redhead who had a smile on his face.

"I'm a keeper, not a beater," Ron said, shrugging the blond's comments off easily.

"Oh, he's a keeper alright," Hermione said, holding her boyfriend closer, and that elicited laughs from everyone else. Trust her to come up with such a pun. The conversation was forgotten as the group found their way towards the Gryffindor table for dinner - food awaited their empty stomachs.

* * *

While Harry was showering after dinner, Draco took the chance to read Lily Potter's diary in the hopes of finding out more.

 _Day 486_

 _The bond has begun to show some of its side effects. I cannot go too far away from James, or we will both start to hurt, especially the magic that resides inside us. It feels as if it's stabbing me, trying to use the pain to draw me back to my bonded one. Both of us dare not venture too far apart from each other._

 _I'm currently about 5 months along with our baby - the bump is starting to show. In about two more months I'll be almost useless on the battlefield. Dumbledore has advised both me and James to go into hiding… that way we'll be safer._

 _We still haven't decided on a name yet - we were thinking either Henry, for James' grandfather, or Harry. It's quite a hard choice, but we've got plenty of time to think it over. Also something to note - the magic is evolving into something more intricate and powerful. Everytime we try to do complicated spells, it gets easier and easier. I'll write more about it soon - the little baby in my stomach is demanding to be fed._

 _Lily_

* * *

 _Day 543_

 _The magic is extraordinary. James and I have managed to turn into two completely different animals - yes, even while I am pregnant - his form is most often the dragon, while I am a phoenix. We can also transform into our Animagus forms, but the bond seems to have a preset choice of only dragon and phoenix. While digging deeper into the books that I've found, it seems that while in that special form, we retain the abilities of said animal, e.g. James can breathe fire, while my phoenix tears can heal almost anything._

 _It's amazing. And also, we've decided to name the child Harry James Potter - after James' grandfather (Henry, but close friends knew him as Harry, apparently), and after James himself. It's a lovely name, and I couldn't have chosen any other better choice._

 _It seems that he'll be due somewhere end July to early August - probably a good 3 to 4 months away. We've still got plenty of time. In fact, James is in the shower now, so I'll just excuse myself…_

 _Lily_

* * *

 _Interesting,_ Draco thought. Both he and Harry hadn't transformed yet - that must mean that their magic was still underdeveloped. A sense of admiration came to mind when he thought about what Lily and James Potter were capable of - and crushing disappointment that their lives had been cut short because of the Dark Lord.

Draco scrawled a couple of notes onto a piece of parchment, writing down his thoughts and possible theories about the bond, and some things that he wanted to find out. Especially if he could make the bond neutral, at least for a while, so that if Draco died, Harry wouldn't.

He slid the parchment into the book and transfigured the tattered notebook before putting it into his bag, knowing that Harry might want to dig through his things. When he opened the book, he would see nothing but the scrawls of Narcissa Malfoy, with her neat, crisp handwriting across the pages. Dusting his hands together after a job well done, Draco went to take a shower as well.

* * *

Days went by without news of Lucius Malfoy, and the whole thing was almost forgotten, especially with the upcoming Quidditch match against Ravenclaw - Harry was practicing with Draco often, trying to help him get an advantage over Cho Chang. Not that the blond needed much help - it was just that he got distracted easily, looking at Harry too often. Not that he actually disliked it, but it wasn't helping with Draco's gameplay.

"Let's make a deal," Harry offered to the blond, who watched him from his broomstick.

"Oh, I do love bargains with you," Draco said, tilting his head a little and studying his boyfriend intently. Harry gulped at the smouldering look on his face - it was hot. And distracting. He shook his head to clear his thoughts.

"If you win the match in 5 minutes flat, you get to do anything you want with me. And that means no distractions," Harry said, staring at Draco's grey eyes, which had gone to molten silver at his challenge.

"Deal?" Harry's hand was reached out, both of them hovering on their broomsticks.

"Deal."

After shaking on it, both of them flew back towards the ground, Harry packing the Quidditch gear back into the trunk that they borrowed from Madam Hooch for practice.

"Now I'll do anything to win," Draco said, smirking as they walked back to the castle.

"As long as it doesn't involve cheating," Harry warned, at which Draco inclined his head in acknowledgement.

"We Slytherins don't cheat, we just take the advantages we have," he said, grinning shamelessly. Harry rolled his eyes at the statement, thinking and knowing well that Slytherins would cheat if they knew that they wouldn't get caught.

"I heard that," Draco said, smirking at Harry. "You can read my mind now?" Harry yelped in surprise as the blond snickered. _And you can read mine as well,_ Draco responded, not bothering to speak aloud.

"What the… the magic, it's getting stronger isn't it?" Harry looked at the spark that flew around them - it was such a normal part of his life now that he didn't pay attention to it much anymore. Draco shrugged, as if it didn't bother him much - Harry supposed that not a lot of things could faze the blond anymore, after being a follower of Voldemort.

Little did Harry know, it terrified Draco. He had no idea what it would be like when their bond was severed - would they die immediately? Or would Harry live on without him? He held everything inside, so that it wouldn't show on his face and affect the brunette - God knew he had been through enough death and destruction in his life.

Draco was thankful that Harry could only read the thoughts that he chose to reveal - and as he watched the bespectacled boy drag the trunk into the storeroom, he swore under his breath.

"Imora thea mi savur _,"_ Draco muttered to himself, and wiped the troubled look off his face as Harry turned around to look at him with one of the brightest smiles he'd ever seen someone wear on their face. _God save me from love._


	14. Death's Tug of War

Hi guys.

I'm so sorry that I haven't been updating at all... a lot of things have happened in my life.

A series of exams, relationship problems and the discovery of Overwatch has ruined me. I finally got convinced to continue this a few days ago when I felt guilty as to not finishing the story.

I will finish this in the coming few months, as I'm currently on internship. I hope you enjoy this story!

* * *

Draco glowered at the girls currently swarmed around his boyfriend - giggling shyly and batting their eyelashes up at him. Harry's panicked green eyes swung to meet his grey ones, and Draco's annoyance turned into mirth as the brunette's body language pleaded for someone to help him out of his awkward situation.

Peeves zoomed above their heads, passing by to drop boxes of chocolates onto people's heads - from their admirers - the poltergeist had yelled, cackling with glee when the person yelped in pain and surprise.

Yes, it was Valentine's Day at Hogwarts, and not even the teachers seemed to be exempt from the celebrations. Professor McGonagall had received an anonymous bouquet of flowers during Transfiguration class, delivered by a disgruntled troll who had to sing a song to her, much to her embarrassment.

 _Save me,_ Harry projected into his boyfriend's mind, in which he only got muffled laughter in response. _C'mon, don't leave me like this!_ Harry moaned in despair as Romilda Vane kept trying to offer him a glass of something he was sure she had spiked with one of the Weasley twins' love potions.

 _Alright, alright, but you owe me for this._ Draco was quite sure that he could mine endless humour from this situation, but judging by how serious Romilda Vane's expression was, he could tell she wasn't kidding about wanting Harry. Bad.

"Alright girls, it's time for class for the Golden Boy. And by the way, he's already taken, so you can forget about being his Valentine's Day date," Draco said, dragging Harry away from his circle of fangirls.

A chorus of 'awwws' came from the girls, but they redirected their efforts so quickly, Draco was actually impressed. A Ravenclaw piped up. "Well, what about you then, Draco? Got a girlfriend?"

"I'm flattered that you'd pick me as second choice after Harry here, but yes, I have someone that I love, so I'm off the market as well," he said, winking at the girls before walking away with Harry towards their next class. The groans that sounded behind them was music to Harry's ears, and he sighed in relief.

"I could seriously kiss you for that," he said, looking at Draco, who was smirking at him. "Well, I wouldn't mind… but we have class, so maybe you should save that for later," he replied, walking into Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Remus was there, and Harry felt his annoyance at the girls vanish instantly, looking forward to an enjoyable class ahead. "Good afternoon, class. It's great to see you all again," Remus said, beaming at all of his students. "We start today by learning about the three Unforgivable Curses, which I am sure all of you here have used at least once in your young lives," he said, and some of the students blushed scarlet.

"But of course, desperate times called for desperate measures, and we all did what we had to. Now, will someone show me the Imperius curse? Most of you here might be able to resist the curse, but if the one who is trying to curse you has a stronger mind, he or she will win. How about you, Harry? Care to try it out?"

Harry gulped audibly as he turned to face Ron - whose face looked ashen. "Do it," he whispered as Harry raised his wand. " _Imperio,"_ he said, and Ron's face contorted into a grimace, as if he were in pain. A vein bulged in his head, but eventually he succumbed to Harry's subtle pushing, and stared ahead blankly.

"Make him do something that he usually can't," Remus said, gesturing towards Ron. Draco watched the entire scene with interest - Professor Lupin was not one to put another student's well-being at risk, but then again, it was Harry they were talking about. He would never hurt his best friend.

With a wave of his holly and phoenix wand, Ron started breakdancing on the floor to everyone's amusement. Even Draco found it rather funny - Weasley couldn't dance to save his life, yet he was pulling off moves on the floor that would impress a seasoned dancer.

"Laugh while you may, but think of the scarier things that you could do. You could make him kill someone. Jump off a building. All these things should always be kept in mind - and that leads me to my next topic. Occlumency."

Harry let the spell wear off, and Ron came back, though he was in a daze for a few minutes until he recovered from the effects of the curse. Harry couldn't help but feel a sick feeling in his stomach - his gut was telling him that something was wrong. Very wrong.

"Man, that was sick! Who knew I could dance like that?" Ron exclaimed excitedly after class ended, though Harry was still feeling rather poor from having to put the Imperius curse on his best friend. "Well, technically you can't. Your motor skills suck, Weasley, though I have to admit that perhaps having the Imperius curse put on you regularly might help improve it in the long run," Draco said teasingly to the redhead, who gave him a one-fingered salute.

Harry didn't say anything.

* * *

The weather was great the following week, not a single drop of rain in sight. So the Ravenclaw and Slytherin match was a go in a few days, much to the happiness of everyone. Draco woke up first - Harry was still asleep, snoring gently.

Draco closed his eyes and savored the moment - he had a feeling that this peace would not last long, and that his father would move soon. _Lucius Malfoy is not one to simply forget about what he wants,_ Draco mused, tracing a finger along Harry's jawline.

Just then, Hedwig flew into the room, and landed on the blond's thigh. She stuck out her leg, where a letter and envelope was tied to it. He stroked the gorgeous owl, and untied the parchment. He knew immediately it was from his mother - only Narcissa would bother using old parchment, ribbons and wax.

 _Dear Draco,_

 _Your father broke into the house again. I was out, thankfully, though this time he stole a lot of things from our storeroom. This happened around a month ago - I only just got home, and I wrote this to you the moment I could. Be careful, your father could be anywhere and anyone right now. The things he took correspond to a Polyjuice potion, which would probably be done brewing by now._

 _I wouldn't put it past him to be impersonating someone. Keep me posted. Also, I found this in your father's belongings and kept it on me before he managed to find it again - he commissioned for this to be made a while ag_ _o, and when it arrived he was already in Azkaban. I think you should have it - maybe you might need it._

 _Love  
Narcissa_

Draco gripped the parchment so tightly his knuckles turned white - he couldn't put Harry at risk anymore. The fragile paper crumbled into pieces, and he burnt them so that Harry wouldn't see it. He then opened the envelope - out dropped a gleaming Time-Turner. A note was attached to it.

 _Made with pure gold. No limits on time._

Draco knew what he had to do now. Knowing Harry, the boy would never let him do what he had in mind. Whatever it took, he would do to keep him safe.

Losing this game of wits was out of the question.

* * *

It was a warm spring day, with the birds chirping merrily and the breeze blowing gently. Draco awoke and looked at the slumbering boy next to him, softly stroking the fringe out of his face. Without waking him, the blond slowly got off the bed, changed into his robes and picked up the notebook and Time-Turner before leaving his dorm room, closing the door firmly behind him.

He walked, thinking about how and where his father would possibly hide. Maybe in Hogsmeade? Or maybe even in Hogwarts itself… Professor Dumbledore was out of the school, so there would be one less pair of eyes to observe the population. The Headmaster always did seem to have a knack for reading people who seemed out of sorts, as proven with Barty Crouch Jr. in Harry's fourth year.

Making his way to the seventh floor, Draco strode in front of the blank wall thrice, thinking about the Room of Hidden Things. On his third walk past the wall, the doors manifested. The doors opened and Draco was surprised to see that although the room was charred, the structure itself was still solid. Everything else had been razed to the ground.

" _Scourgify!"_ he said and with a wave of his wand, he cleared away most of the ashes coating the room. He checked the time: it was 7am. He needed to be back by around 8:30AM so he could make it to breakfast. He then stood in the center of the room and with twirl of his wand, cast a Disillusionment Charm on himself before twisting the the Time-Turner.

The world around him spun, but he stood still. He saw the world change from night to day in the blink of an eye, and he closed his eyes to enjoy the breeze that gently blew past as he travelled back into time.

He landed back into the Room of Requirement - where everything else was still intact. He saw Rowena Ravenclaw's diadem gleaming on top of a bust, tempting him. He turned his back on it, checked that he was still invisible and then Disapparated to Godric's Hollow.

His combined magic with Harry was strong enough to overpower the Fidelius Charm's cloaking effects, and with close to no effort, he landed lightly on the pavement outside Harry's future home. At this time, Lily Potter would still be pregnant with him…

Just as he was about to walk towards the door, it opened. A very pregnant Lily strode out, stretching and breathing in the fresh air, while James watched and fussed over her.

"Stop treating me as if I'm about to break, James! I'm okay," she snapped, and her husband backed off with his hands up, though his face was amused. Lily rubbed her belly, wondering about when he would finally come into this world. "I hope he has your looks," Lily said absentmindedly, catching James by surprise.

 _You have no idea, Lily…_ Draco thought, smiling sadly at her statement. Harry was almost a doppelganger for his own father - except for those piercing green eyes that he and his mother both shared. It was the only thing that Harry had inherited from her - the rest was all his father. They even shared the same Patronus: a stag.

"Well, I think that'd be great… after all, I'm not that bad of a looker," he joked as Lily rolled her eyes and smacked him on the shoulder. "Let's go! It's time to stretch." She pulled her husband by his hand, and they both headed to the clearing situated behind their little cottage.

Then Draco witnessed one of the most beautiful moments in his entire life. A moment ago, the two of them stood hand in hand, and then the next, a bright light burst from them and there was a dragon and a phoenix, both gold and shining brilliantly.

The phoenix gently rubbed her face against the dragon, which returned the gesture. Both flew around, stretching their wings. They play fought with each other, and the dragon would breathe fire onto the phoenix, which only made her shimmer even brighter in the evening light. She sang, a lilting song of beauty and tragedy, one that almost brought tears to Draco's eyes.

Draco wanted to stay and watch, but his spark fluttered frantically around him, and Draco decided that he should be going back before anything weird happened to the timelines. He Apparated back to Hogwarts and spun the Time-Turner, excited to share with Harry what he had seen.

* * *

Harry woke up and didn't find Draco in his bed, which was mildly upsetting, but not something he couldn't deal with. As he washed up and changed for breakfast, a large barn owl flew into the room, hooting at Harry for payment.

He fed the owl, who then stuck its leg out for Harry to untie the letter before flying off. As he brushed his teeth, he opened the envelope and read its contents.

 _Harry Potter,_

 _You should know by now that I have been hunting you. I know the kind of person you are, and the lengths of which you would go to just to protect the ones you love. You watched Cedric Diggory die in front of your eyes, If I remember correctly._

 _What would happen if you saw Draco die for you? Would you be able to live with the guilt? There is a way to break the bond between you two - I know how to. And if you do it, I will let Draco live… after all, you are my ultimate goal._

 _Draco may be my son, but he is only a means to an end._

 _I will see you in a few days' time, after the Ravenclaw and Slytherin match at the Forbidden Forest. Come alone, and do not think to tell Draco or anyone else - I will know._

 _Lucius Malfoy_

Harry stared at the letter dubiously. Of course he wouldn't be so stupid as to believe that Lucius had the god damn miracle cure… but it was sorely tempting. Lucius was right - he no longer wanted anyone to die for him. He knew that if he had to finally sacrifice himself as was his birthright - then so be it.

It wasn't like he wasn't ready to face death anyways. He met death at the bridge twice, and came back to die again. But he vanquished the evil and lived on… maybe it was his time to finally die now.

He was ready. He would never run again.


End file.
